Sheriff: Man killed in boating accident

MOUNTAIN HOME, AR (KAIT) - A Baxter County man died Friday after a boating accident on Lake Norfork, according to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.

Adam Jones of Mountain Home was on the lake Friday afternoon when the accident happened.

According to a media release, Montgomery said deputies got a call around 4:15 p.m. Nov. 16 about a pontoon boat circling the lake near Cranfield Marina.

The boat appeared to be unmanned and deputies went to check on it.

“Persons on another boat in the same area had stopped to provide assistance and it was reported that there was a male and a female on the shore, with the male being seriously injured and unresponsive,” Montgomery said in the statement. “Paramedics with the ambulance service at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home were transported by boat over to the area where these people were on the shoreline. The injured man (Jones) was subsequently transported to the Emergency Room at the hospital but he did not survive his injuries.”

Montgomery said the investigation appeared to show that Jones was on the front of the pontoon boat, fell overboard while it was underway and was hit by the boat.

“The female, who had been operating the boat, also fell overboard when trying to help with the unmanned boat then circling in the water,” Montgomery said.