A 59-year-old Meigs County man was found dead in Watts Bar Reservoir on Sunday, Oct. 11, after his family reported him overdue from a fishing trip, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said. The family called authorities at about 8:30 p.m. and went to the boat ramp Fairbanks had used, where they found his boat drifting without him, according to the agency. Rescue teams later recovered Leyroy Fairbanks’ body from the reservoir. TWRA officers responded to a ramp along Highway 68 with Meigs and Rhea county rescue teams, sheriff’s departments and fire departments. The agency said Fairbanks was not wearing a life jacket. The death is Tennessee’s 19th boating-related fatality of 2026, according to TWRA. The state’s first such fatality this year also occurred on Watts Bar Reservoir, in February. Watts Bar Reservoir lies in Meigs and Rhea counties. TWRA has said boaters must carry a wearable, U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket for each person aboard, sized to fit its intended wearer.