WYTHE COUNTY, Va. – Crews have recovered the body of the missing 31-year-old swimmer.
The Wythe County Sherrif’s Office said Lawrence Parsons went under the water near Shot Tower Park on Fort Chiswell Road on Monday and did not resurface, prompting an extensive search and recovery effort that spanned two days.
Authorities told 10 News that he was found in the same area where he went missing.
We currently have 10 News reporter Thomas Mundy at the scene working for you to learn more.
We will continue to update this article as more details become readily available.
Update:
A tragic ending to a days long search
The body of a swimmer was found in Wythe County after a three-day search.
As fate would have it, it wasn’t the search crews who found Lawrence.
On the third day of searching for Lawrence Parsons in the New River, his family, who was out there the whole time, spotted him in the same place he went down.
10 News was out talking to different family members about Lawrence and what happened, and as I was wrapping up, we spotted something odd in the water.
“We turn around and we looked, and we saw something floating in the water,” said Hans Reeves, one of Lawrence’s uncles. “I thought it was a stump or something like that. James [Oxendine] thought it was a stump and I said let me get out my camera. I zoomed in and I saw a face floating, bobbing up and down.”
After zooming in on their phone to get a closer look, they were confident it was more than just a log.
“Right where we saw him at,” said James Oxendine, Lawrence’s brother. “Right where I was pointing at he was right there. He popped right out the water.”
They made the call to Wythe County Emergency Crews, and in minutes crews were there confirming their thoughts that it was Lawrence.
The family said after everything happened that while this is a tragedy, it is also a miracle. While we were talking about Lawrence, what happened, and where he went down, that’s when we made the discovery.
They said now they can finally get some closure on everything.
