OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. — A boating incident has claimed the life of a North Carolina man fishing in South Carolina on Saturday, officials say.

Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said the body of 62-year-old Rodney Lyle Palmer of Maggie Valley, North Carolina was recovered from Lake Hartwell around 8:20 p.m. Authorities said that Palmer dropped his sons and a friend off from the boat to go deer hunting around 2:30 p.m. while he reportedly said he was going back out to fish.

However, when the group came out of the woods around 5:45 p.m., they found his boat in the cove and empty. After his disappearance we reported to emergency responders around 6:10 p.m., crews searched the Tugaloo River section of the lake near the South Union Community and eventually found Palmer dead in eight feet of water.

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