"They were trying to scream to him and tell him how to get back into the kayak and about five minutes before they even got to him he went down," said Crystal Little.
Little was out fishing with her family when they witnessed someone drowning.
"He flipped his kayak and hollered for help. And everybody was really too far away from him," she recalls. "And his girlfriend and three swam, started swimming out to him."
As officials were searching the lake, Little said the Dyess airman was unable to get back in his kayak because of the strong current.
"Whenever it flipped on him, the current or wind or whatever blew it away from him. So he couldn't get to it. He could not, he tried," said Little.
It was by chance that Little's 16-year-old son Trevor found a Styrofoam raft about 30 minutes before the drowning. He was able to use it in order to help a few people from being taken under by the currents.
"The woman started drowning, she was crying out, she was drowning. And about three minutes after that, the other guy starts crying out that he's drowning too," Little said. "And then my son got on it and he started, he paddled with his hands all the way out to, with his hands, all the way out to those people."
APD and Dyess officials said that alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident.
"There's no belief right now that alcohol was involved in this situation at all. So there's no belief in that at all," said Officer George Spindler.
APD and Dyess officials said they will release the name 24 hours after the victim's next of kin have been notified. Officials also said that he was not wearing a life vest.
Little was out fishing with her family when they witnessed someone drowning.
"He flipped his kayak and hollered for help. And everybody was really too far away from him," she recalls. "And his girlfriend and three swam, started swimming out to him."
As officials were searching the lake, Little said the Dyess airman was unable to get back in his kayak because of the strong current.
"Whenever it flipped on him, the current or wind or whatever blew it away from him. So he couldn't get to it. He could not, he tried," said Little.
It was by chance that Little's 16-year-old son Trevor found a Styrofoam raft about 30 minutes before the drowning. He was able to use it in order to help a few people from being taken under by the currents.
"The woman started drowning, she was crying out, she was drowning. And about three minutes after that, the other guy starts crying out that he's drowning too," Little said. "And then my son got on it and he started, he paddled with his hands all the way out to, with his hands, all the way out to those people."
APD and Dyess officials said that alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident.
"There's no belief right now that alcohol was involved in this situation at all. So there's no belief in that at all," said Officer George Spindler.
APD and Dyess officials said they will release the name 24 hours after the victim's next of kin have been notified. Officials also said that he was not wearing a life vest.
