Stanley man found dead in Lake Norman

SHERRILLS FORD, N.C.,None — A dead body was found floating in Lake Norman on Thursday morning near the Boat Rack Marina in Sherrills Ford.

The Sherrills Ford – Terrell Fire and Rescue pulled Ronny Robert Gimon, 57, of Stanley out of the lake at about 11:30 a.m.

The Boat Rack's owner, David Lowman, said Gimon had signed a year-long lease agreement for a boat slip in the marina the day before he was found dead. Lowman had helped him put his cabin cruiser in the slip.

It was about 10:30 a.m. Thursday when Lowman's service manager spotted what he thought might be a body floating in the lake. He pointed it out to Lowman.

"Just the crown of the back was all that was showing out of the water. I came back and told him that I didn't think it was a body," Lowman said. "All kinds of debris floats in here, so it could have been anything."

It was about 30 yards from shore. The manager kept an eye on it and as the wind blew it closer to shore, he saw that it was clearly a body and called 911.

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene.

"There's nothing suspicious about it at this time, but it is still under investigation," said Sheriff Coy Reid, adding that an autopsy will be performed as is standard procedure when a corpse is found.

Gimon was due to appear in court in Iredell County on Jan. 12 on a charge of driving a motor boat while impaired. Lowman said he did not notice any odor of alcohol on Gimon when he met him the evening before he died.

This isn't the first time a body has been spotted near the Boat Rack Marina.

"Many times the rescue people will work out of our marina – it's just not something we've gotten used to, but it's not something we've never seen before either," Lowman said.

Many bodies have been recovered over the years, according to Fire Chief Keith Bost of Sherrills Ford – Terrell Fire and Rescue.

"We have a couple a year usually," said Bost.

WSOC