BELL CITY MAN DROWNS IN AREA LAKE

A decision to swim one more time across Whippoorwill Lake in Bollinger County cost a Bell City man his life Sunday.

The victim, Stephen R. Reeves, 18, was packed and ready to leave the lake-side campsite where he had spent the weekend with friends, but he decided to swim across the lake before leaving, officials said.

Jim Bollinger of the Bollinger County Civil Defense said Reeves was supposed to meet his friends on the other side of the 200-yard lake, but didn't make it. He said authorities were summoned to the scene about 11:15 a.m. Reeves' body was discovered about an hour later.

"He was supposed to be a good swimmer," Bollinger said. "But that's usually what we find: Good swimmers sometimes try to overextend themselves."