UPDATE:
As summer nears, it can become routine for law enforcement to investigate drownings on area lakes. However, Saturday's drowning hit home for several in the law enforcement community.
Saturday started off like many for retired Deputy Tommy Preston - a sunny day, a private lake and a fishing pole.
The 63-year-old and his nephew were in a canoe when it suddenly capsized, sending both men underwater. Preston never resurfaced.
Lt. John Polluck with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division says the help of several area units and their resources made the discovery of Preston’s body possible.
Preston was a former College Station Police officer and Brazos County deputy and often fished at his former CSPD partner's lake.
Antone Dobrovolny says that Preston spent many hours on his lake. Dobrovolny was in good spirits despite his friend’s death, “I said man if you have to go, if you’re doing something you enjoy…it’s better than something you don’t. Everything happens for a reason.”
While the community may remember him as a dedicated member of law enforcement, his family remembers him in a different way.
Preston’s daughter, Teresa McMillian arrived to the accident scene after the body was recovered. She remembers her father as "a guy that tried to help and do the best he could for about everyone. He loved to help and do anything he could for anyone.”
It took boating crews almost two hours to discover Preston's body. His family was waiting nearby, hanging on to hope until the very end.
McMillian says her father is “going to be dearly missed…and I love him dearly.” A message felt by those who worked beside him during his many years of service to the community.
Preston's body will be sent to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
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***UPDATE***
BCSO says the victim's name is Tommy Preston, age 63, of Bryan. Preston is a former deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff's Office.
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Brazos County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating a possible drowning on Lake Mary, a private lake west of Bryan.
Around 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon, deputies were dispatched to the small lake, located in the 4300 block of Dobrovolny Dr. Deputies are currently using two boats to search the lake for the body of a man.
According to deputies, two men were fishing in a boat on Lake Mary, when the boat capsized. One of the men did not resurface. Authorities are not releasing the man's identity.
KBTX has a crew on scene and will have updates as they become available.
