SEQUOYAH COUNTY - A 69-year-old man has drowned at Robert S. Kerr Reservoir after the boat he was riding in sinks, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.
The boating accident occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. Monday the reservoir, about 80 yards from the shoreline, a quarter mile north of the Applegate Marina, in Sequoyah County.
Claudie D. Copeland was a passenger in a 1996 Stratos 17-foot boat that began to take on water. Copeland, from Fort Smith, Ark., went down with the boat as it sank after taking on too much water. The OHP report said he drowned and his body was later recovered on the shoreline.
The driver of the boat swam to short and was treated for minor injuries, troopers say.
According to the OHP, the boat's motor was up and the two men couldn't get it back in the water; that's when the boat began to fill up with water due to lake conditions.
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