Possible Drowning at Lake Rawlings

[Crimediver]

Anybody have any info on this incident? I have not been able to find out the condition of this person. Lake Rawlings is a popular dive quarry in VA.

Possible drowning in Brunswick County - News - inRich.com

[thagar]

Oh my I hadn't heard about this. My friend is supposed to go there tomorrow.

[SquidSquad3]

Please read Errol Duplessis report,

"A TRAGIC MOMENT AT LAKE RAWLINGS"

Lake Rawlings Divefest 2008

[Skinsfan1311]

I did my cert dives at Lake Rawlings and dove the same site where the woman died. The spot that she dove is shallow and there is great viz.

My prayers and thoughts go out to this poor woman's family...

[cummings66]

It's sad when somebody passes, I always feel for the remaining family, especially children if they have them. It's tough for everybody and I'll keep them in my prayers.

[CamaroChick]

sounds strangely like the Austrailian honeymoon scuba murder... a couple diving together, one gets into trouble, the other leaves them in the water to go get help. How could you ever leave a troubled buddy?? And in 18 feet of water... very tragic.

[clymber]

Originally Posted by SquidSquad3

Please read Errol Duplessis report,

"A TRAGIC MOMENT AT LAKE RAWLINGS"

Lake Rawlings Divefest 2008

Anyone have any more information on this? It looks like this article is offline now on the Lake Rawlings site. Here's the text of the article from google's cache:

A TRAGIC MOMENT AT LAKE RAWLINGS

By Errol Duplessis

We experienced a drowning on Friday, June 27, 2008 at about 1:45 p.m. at Lake Rawlings. The victim was a woman, Sharon Holmes, age 40, of Silver Spring, Maryland. She and her boyfriend were diving together when she got into trouble. He came to the surface in a panicked condition without her, called for help, and then left the water. Many divers came to his aid to offer assistance. The boyfriend told the rescuers that his girl friend was at the bottom of the lake, not breathing, and that he could not help her.
They were diving at the Replacements sailboat shell, which is the safest dive site in the lake. The relative depth is about 18 feet, with little or no silt because of the surrounding rocks. This is the location where most scuba instructors take their new divers on their first tour of Lake Rawlings. The water was very clear and warm on Friday, so why didn’t the victim simply swim to the surface at the onset of trouble? The two divers involved in this tragedy were inexperienced divers, and both were certified last year. If they were practicing skills at Lake Rawlings, it was the correct thing to do. However, practicing skills with experienced divers would have been more beneficial.

This case is under investigation by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office in Lawrenceville, Virginia. There were other factors involved that I am not privy to say at the moment. Let’s wait until all the investigations are completed and the facts are known before jumping to any conclusion.

I wish to thank the many divers from Richmond and surrounding area who came to Lake Rawlings in support of our scuba park this past weekend. Lake Rawlings is as safe a place to dive as any place that I know, and divers do come from far and wide to enjoy our lake and scuba park. Your presence was not lost on me. So far, it was by far the best attendance this dive season.

And my last thought about the Sharon Holmes tragedy is this – she did not have to die to enjoy scuba diving! Something terribly wrong happened, and we do not know what it was.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Rawlings Quarry Diving Company, and the staff of Lake Rawlings, we wish to express our deepest sympathy and sincerest condolences to the family of Sharon Denise Holmes.