We lost a driver in our center yesterday...

[Jack4343]

Sad story. I don't know the whole details but he drowned after falling off his jet-ski at Lake Lanier. His name is Broderick and he's in the North center of the P-Dale hub. Talked with him many times even though we were in different centers in our hub. I covered a route two years ago for about a year and his route was next to mine. He did pickups in areas that I delivered in. He was a real nice guy and he will be missed by all of us at P-Dale. RIP Broderick.

PS. The reports states that they are still looking for his body. His body has now been found. One of his friends (and driver in my center) had to go and ID his body this afternoon.

Sheriff's office IDs possible drowning victim
Ellenwood man fell from personal watercraft

Hall County Sheriff's Office dive team members Joe Carter, left, and Cory Gilleland pull on the line connected to a sonar unit as they search for a drowning victim Broderick Bradford near Aqualand Marina on Monday.
TOM REED (The Times)

By Harris Blackwood and Ashley Fielding
POSTED May 5, 2008 3:31 p.m.
Members of the Hall County Sheriff's Office Dive Team are searching near the boat ramp at Aqualand Marina for a 46-year-old Ellenwood man who fell from a personal watercraft and is presumed drowned. Maj. Jeff Strickland said the victim, Broderick Bradford, 46, was not wearing a life jacket when the incident occurred sometime before 7 p.m. Sunday.
Johnson was operating a jet ski when it overturned. As he was trying to get back on the device, Johnson disappeared under water and did not resurface, according to the Sheriff's Office. Johnson was not wearing a life jacket at the time.
A passenger, who was wearing a flotation device, was not injured.
Officers are using a sonar device to search for the man. Members of the Hall County Fire Services dive team searched until dark on Sunday in water that is approximately 60 feet deep, Strickland said.
The search resumed at 8 a.m. today.
Editor's note: Due to incorrect information provided by a source, an earlier version of this story contained an incorrect last name for the victim.

 

[DS]

You have my sympathy,I hope his family gets through it ok.

 

[toonertoo]

So sad, just out trying to have a little fun
Rip and the best to the family.

 

[scratch]

I am so sorry to hear about this. I didn't know this driver personally, he is out of another Hub. I used to deliver near Ellenwood where Broderick Bradford lived a long time ago, its in my Center. My condolences to his family and co-workers.

 

[Upslady20]

How horrible.. very sad. We had a driver last week have a couple of mini strokes that has left him unable to move his arm and leg on his right side. They have sent him to the local rehab facility.. his life in brown is probably over he is only about 40.

 

[dilligaf]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families (both Jack and Lady).

 

[rod]

Rest in Peace Mr. Bradford

 

[ImpactedTSG]

Very sad.


On a side note, are there any laws in GA about wearing floatation devices on jet-skis? Just curious because in my state there are and they are stricly enforced where my dad has his boat and skis.

 

[feeder53]

My sympathy goes out to his family.

Safety is an ongoing issue even at home. I have a boat and the laws here in upstate NY mandate the use of a PFD, and a safety course for all who operate a Jet ski. I have seen a number of accidents on the water. A few years back a tour boat capsized in Lake George and a large number of elderly folks drowned. It was gut wrenching to say the least.

 

[RockyRogue]

On a side note, are there any laws in GA about wearing floatation devices on jet-skis?

That's a good question. I'm 90% certain there are laws in Illinois about wearing personal flotation devices. I'd be surprised if Colorado does not have such laws, particularly given this state's love of the outdoors. -Rocky

 

[scratch]

Yes, Georgia does have laws about wearing PFDs while on the water. I don't understand why Mr. Bradford wasn't wearing one but his passenger was.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

My sympathy goes out to his family.

Safety is an ongoing issue even at home. I have a boat and the laws here in upstate NY mandate the use of a PFD, and a safety course for all who operate a Jet ski. I have seen a number of accidents on the water. A few years back a tour boat capsized in Lake George and a large number of elderly folks drowned. It was gut wrenching to say the least.

Feeder, as I recall, the boat had been designed to carry a certain number of people at the average weight at the time that it was built but we have become a larger society so while they were at or near the maximum as far as # of people the boat was found to be overweight and the tour operator was found to be liable.

 

[browniehound]

Thats just awfull news...

 

[Jack4343]

Just a correction from what I said earlier. I found out today that Broderick's body has not been found yet. The driver that I said went to identify his body actually went up to the lake to aid in the search and recovery. The water is deep there and currents are pretty strong as well. I hope they find his body to help bring closure to his family. He has 3 kids.

 

[filthpig]

Thats really tragic. Hopefully he had his affairs in order. "You know not when the master cometh..."
Let this serve as a reminder to all of us to have our life insurance up to date. What the union provides amounts to about 9 months pay.

 

[FOF]

Just a little inside info on the drowning victim. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket becuase the company he rented from only had two left and there were two couples. They gave the life jackets to the two women and the men didn't have on any. He was a family friend.

 

[Family Member]

Just a correction from what I said earlier. I found out today that Broderick's body has not been found yet. The driver that I said went to identify his body actually went up to the lake to aid in the search and recovery. The water is deep there and currents are pretty strong as well. I hope they find his body to help bring closure to his family. He has 3 kids.

Another correction: Broderick has 2 teenaged boys.

 

[Family Member]

By Stephen Gurr
[email protected]

POSTED May 31, 2008 12:25 a.m.

FLOWERY BRANCH — As sheriff’s divers searched the murky depths of Lake Lanier for an eighth day for the body of a Ellenwood man who is presumed drowned, the man’s friends worried that his remains may never be found.

Broderick Bradford was last seen on the lake when his personal watercraft overturned about 100 yards from gas docks at Aqualand Marina early on the night of May 4.

Bradford, a 46-year-old married father of two, was not wearing a life jacket and is believed to have drowned.

But in the three weeks since his disappearance, the 10-man Hall County Sheriff’s Dive Team that routinely finds bodies in a matter of minutes has logged more than 60 hours underwater without success. They were in the lake again Friday, the eighth day of fruitless searching since Bradford was seen going under 26 days previously.

Hall County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Tempel, the commander of the dive team, said the scope of the search — more than 5 acres with depths ranging from 30 to 70 feet — is one major hindrance.

"We’ve got a lot of conflicting accounts from witnesses," Tempel said. "It’s a large search area."

Another obstacle is the presence of submerged trees as tall as 30 feet in the lake, which makes grid searches using ropes impractical, and visibility that hovers between 4 feet and zero, depending on the depth and amount of silt in the water. After some rainy days, silt runoff coming from Lanier’s exposed shorelines has made the lake impossibly cloudy for searching, Tempel said.

Divers have not spent this much time looking for a drowning victim in the lake since July 2006, when a man riding a stolen Jet Ski went under near Holiday Marina. The body of 38-year-old Marc Lee Webb of Cumming was never recovered after three weeks of searching. Divers were hampered then as well by vague witness accounts and a large, deep search area to cover.

"There have been several that have gone unrecovered over the years," Hall County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kiley Sargent said.

Sharon Gaston-Johnson, a friend of Bradford’s from Jonesboro, said his friends are concerned that time may be running out in the search efforts. Sheriff’s officials have not yet said when they would end the search.

"You’ll always wonder if he’s out there, if they terminate the search," Gaston-Johnson said. "There’s no closure. Your mind starts drifting — is he really dead? Is he really drowned? Until they find a body, it’s not official."

Any memorial service for Bradford is on hold for now, she said.

Gaston-Johnson said Bradford was a driver for UPS who was a "very nice, fun-loving family man. He’ll be extremely missed."

"He loved sports," she said. "He did not drink or do drugs. He was always real cautious. For him to be out there without a life jacket, that’s what was so shocking to everybody."

Gaston-Johnson said Bradford, who lived with his two boys and wife, often went deep-sea fishing with his father.

"He was on the water a lot," she said. "That’s what’s puzzling — how could he drown?"

Divers haven’t been the only ones looking for Bradford. The Hall County Sheriff’s marine patrol has made surface searches of the area on boats and personal watercraft every day since he went missing.

Sheriff’s officials say in drowning cases, whether bodies rise to the surface depends in part on the water temperature. The warmer the water, the more likely a body will surface. Temperatures in the deeper portions of the search area are in the mid-50s, officials said.

Authorities are also considering the possibility that Bradford’s body may be snagged on one of the many trees and brush piles beneath the surface.

The water current is not believed to be a factor. The search area is in a relatively tranquil cove of the lake.

"Our experience is unless it’s in a main channel, the current is not going to move someone very far," Lt. Joe Carter said.

Carter said divers have "thoroughly" searched an area where cadaver dogs aboard a boat detected a scent. They have been using the "compass run" technique, in which one diver operates a compass to keep the search on a straight heading and the other diver uses his arms to probe around him. Searches along the lake bottom average about 30 minutes per dive.

Authorities say the operation is filled with risks; one diver had his radio communication line ripped from his gear when it snagged on a branch. Another diver’s primary air hose burst while he was above the water — an equipment failure that would have created a critical risk underwater, Tempel said.

Said Sargent, "It’s very, very dangerous work. But these guys know what they’re doing."

Gaston-Johnson, Bradford’s friend, said those who know him have sent along their thanks to the dive team.

"I know they’re doing their best and everyone appreciates them," she said. "Everyone’s waiting for some kind of closure."

 

[family member]

Just a little inside info on the drowning victim. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket becuase the company he rented from only had two left and there were two couples. They gave the life jackets to the two women and the men didn't have on any. He was a family friend.

Not true.

 

[The-UK-Guy]

That sucks, RIP