Saturday, June 3, 2017

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) -- A coroner says a South Carolina deputy who died in a boating accident drowned because his life jacket got caught on a propeller.

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore told local media outlets Friday the entanglement pinned 30-year-old Devin Hodges underwater.

Authorities say Hodges, another Anderson County Sheriff's deputy and an official from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were training on Lake Hartwell on Thursday when all three were thrown from the boat. Officials initially believed the driverless boat circled back and struck Hodges. But Shore says an autopsy showed no significant propeller injuries.

It's still unclear why the three were thrown from the boat.

The two others were treated for shock but otherwise uninjured.

Officials say Hodges volunteered to join the patrol on the lake that borders Georgia.

(Copyright 2017. Associated Press)