The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) reported today one boating-related fatality took place over the three-day 2020 Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The May 24, 2020 incident occurred below Fort Loudoun Dam on the Tennessee River.

Anglers 39-year-old Michael Hopkins of Oliver Springs and 50-year-old David Morris of Clinton were in a boat when the engine failed to start, and the boat was pulled into the spillway. Both men, who were wearing life jackets, went into the river at different times before the boat sank. Hopkins was rescued by bystanders and Morris did not survive. His body was later recovered less than a mile downstream by the Loudon County dive team.

The incident was the first boating fatality in Tennessee on the Memorial Day holiday weekend in five years.

Statewide, there were four serious injury incidents and five others involving property damage. TWRA boating officers made 13 BUI (boating under the influence arrests).