Hudson man’s body found in pond

HUDSON – The body of an older man who apparently drowned sometime Sunday night was found around 8 a.m. Monday at Little Pushaw Pond.

Norman Whitney Sr., 76, a year-round resident at the pond on Hay Road, was last seen on his homemade 10-foot pontoon boat around 7:30 p.m.

His body was discovered floating facedown near Oak Point and the boat was found about a half-mile away, according to officials with the Maine Warden Service.

“We have no reason to believe that speed or anything with the boat was a factor,” Sgt. Patrick Devlin of the Warden Service said Monday morning.

Whitney’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta where cause of death will be determined.

Wardens didn’t think on Monday that anyone else was with Whitney at the time of the accident.

The boating accident will be under investigation at least until the medical examiner makes a ruling.

“We don’t know what happened here – if he fell or if a medical condition caused him to fall,” Warden Service spokesman Mark Latti said Monday.

Latti doesn’t believe alcohol was a factor in Whitney’s death. Wardens said it doesn’t appear that there was any foul play.

Whitney wasn’t wearing a life vest, Latti said.

“Each year, about 80 percent of our boating fatalities are people who don’t wear life jackets,” Latti said. “Wearing a life jacket greatly increases your chance of survival if you fall or are thrown out of a boat.”