Friends remember Mallard Creek High School graduate

MECKLENBURG COUNTY — According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, an 18-year-old male who drowned in Tuckertown Reservoir in Montgomery County on Saturday afternoon was from Charlotte.

"He was a wonderful person," Friend Ronald Stodghill said. "He always had something good to say."

Sunday friends held a vigil at Mallard Creek High School where Richard Maxwell had recently graduated.

"He changed people's lives," Friend Alexander Anderson said. "He had great words of wisdom."

Investigators told Eyewitness News Maxwell was on a log and saw a snake. He panicked and let go of the log, then went underwater.

It took authorities one and a half to two hours to find his body.

"I couldn't believe it," Anderson said. "I didn't want to believe it. Not Ray Ray."

An officer also told Channel 9 the area the teens were swimming in is usually restricted because it is privately owned by a company.

WSOC