Body of missing boater found, pulled from Pamunkey River

NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A body pulled from the Pamunkey River on Friday evening has been identified as the missing boater agencies have been searching for since Thursday.

According to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), Conservation Police Officers found the body of 34-year-old Thomas L. Pitts, III from the Pamunkey River just west of Whitehouse Creek at around 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 8.

Prior to Pitts being found, DWR received a report on Aug. 7 at around 7:20 a.m. of a jon boat, without an operator, going in circles.

This prompted several agencies, including DWR, public safety personnel from the United State Coast Guard, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Virginia State Police, New Kent County Sheriff's Office, New Kent County Fire and Rescue, West Point Fire and Rescue and Henrico County Division of Fire, to respond to the scene and begin a search for the missing boater.

There were also volunteers with the Metro Richmond Flying Squad on scene to support those involved with the search, according to officials.

Throughout the initial Thursday search, DWR located Pitts' truck at Williams Landing. The search continued until dusk on Thursday, and continued at 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

When Pitts was found, DWR said he was wearing an inflatable life jacket, but it had not been deployed. As of the time of reporting, officials are unsure if the life jacket malfunctioned, or if it was never manually inflated, according to the release.

His body has been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond to determine the cause of death, the release said.

Officials said that at this time, the investigation does not indicate that foul play was involved in this incident.