By Joshua Huff, sports editor
ASHVILLE — The body of a Trussville man was discovered in a lake in Ashville on Monday evening.
The St. Clair County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Claude Webster, 63, of Trussville.
The coroner’s office said that Webster’s body was recovered at around 10:30 p.m. under a pier on H. Neely Henry Lake following a person in distress call. Webster had been fishing late in the evening when he allegedly fell in the water. The coroner’s office has yet to determine the official cause of death, but they believe that hypothermia and drowning were factors. The water temperature at the time was 43 degrees.
Multiple agencies participated in the search for Webster after the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office received the call for help. Etowah County and the Rainbow City Fire Department and Police Department participated in the search.
Webster’s body was found under the pier near Dogwood Lane in Ashville. Dogwood Lane runs northeast off of Greensport Road and parallels the Coosa River. There has been no word as to how Webster ended up in the water.
“Our thoughts go out to his family in this tragic loss,” the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
H. Neely Henry Lake covers 11,200 surface acres with a total capacity of 129,800 acre-feet and about 339 miles of shoreline. It is a recreational lake with fishing opportunities for large-mouth bass, spotted bass, bluegill and other sunfish, crappie, catfish, striped bass, hybrid and white bass.