The warning of an approaching thunderstorm stopped recovery effort for a 52-year-old Stafford County man who is believed to have drowned in the Rappahannock River.

Stafford deputies and fire and rescue officials declined to release the man’s name. The only description they gave was that the missing man is white with a beard.

Stafford County Fire and Rescue Lt. Mark Stone said the man, family members and friends were swimming in the river about a half-mile south of the Blue and Gray Parkway bridge in south Stafford. He said the man indicated to the group that he was fine in the water as he swam farther from the bank. The man was last seen at 3:30 p.m.

“A short time passed, and they said they didn’t see him,” Stone said. Stone said some in the group did a quick search for the swimmer, and at 4:06 a 911 call was made from a nearby Sheetz gas station.

At least three boats entered the water with two divers. Falmouth, White Oak, Widewater and Brooke fire and rescue members and a host of deputies were at the scene. Mutual aid came from Spotsylvania and King George counties, Fredericksburg and Quantico.

At about 6 p.m., Stone said the team switched efforts to recovery, which means it is unlikely the man will be found alive. Stone said it took longer to switch the search efforts to recovery because the team was not sure if the man had reached a river bank.

The man’s wife was at the scene with seven other family members, friends and a toddler. She did not want to immediately comment, but some in the group speculated in conversation if the man possibly had a heart attack. Deputies warned them of the approaching storm and said they could leave.

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office was expected to resume the search at 9 a.m. today.

If this is a drowning, it would be the second in the Rappahannock this summer. A Maryland teenager, Gil-berto Lopez Cortez, drowned near Old Mill Park on June 8. He was the river’s 84th drowning victim since 1972.

Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
dtelvock@freelancestar.com