Lewis, 24, drowns on Tims Ford Lake
1:16 p.m. April 6, 2026
Blake Lewis was the second boating-related fatality on Tims Ford Lake this year.
DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor
Blake Lewis, 24, drowned Sunday evening after falling overboard from a paddle craft-style vessel on Tims Ford Lake, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
TWRA said it responded to a report of a possible drowning at Lost Creek at approximately 5:20 p.m. Sunday, April 5, and recovered Lewis’s body from the lake at about 7:11 p.m.
According to a preliminary TWRA investigation, Lewis was on the lake with a friend in a paddle craft-style vessel when he fell into the water and appeared to struggle to swim.
TWRA said the occupant of the other vessel tried to help by throwing multiple personal flotation devices, but Lewis was unable to reach them before going under.
Emergency services were notified through 911, and responders from TWRA, Franklin County, and Moore County joined the search. First responders used sonar to locate and recover Lewis’s body.
Lewis was not wearing a personal flotation device at the time of the accident, according to TWRA.
Moore County Sheriff Tyler Hatfield said TWRA is leading the investigation, and the Moore County Sheriff’s Department is assisting.
The incident remains under investigation.
TWRA said the drowning was the fourth boating-related fatality on Tennessee waterways in 2026 and the second boating-related fatality on Tims Ford Lake this year.
The first happened on March 16 in Franklin County, where the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body of Nobuyuki Terajima of Hermitage near the Devil’s Step boat ramp.
Sheriff Tim Fuller said Terajima had been taking his boat out of the lake and had tied it to the dock while he went to get his truck and trailer. Divers from the county’s Emergency Management and Rescue Agency recovered his body and it was sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
