Granite Shoals authorities believe that the death of an elderly man, whose body was found Aug. 1 by a kayaker on Lake LBJ may have been an accident, according to a preliminary assessment of the incident.
The incident was reported at 8:45 p.m. on Sunday behind a residence on Beaver Island, a peninsula subdivision of the community.
James Bennett, 74, of Granite Shoals was identified as the victim, according to public record.
“A local resident was kayaking and happened to notice the victim in the water, realized it was a body,” said Granite Shoals Police Capt. Chris Decker. “It was very close to shore. (The kayaker) dragged him up to a dock that was there.”
Residents who arrived initially conducted CPR until first responders arrived, Decker explained. Granite Shoals Fire Rescue and Marble Falls Area EMS arrived on the scene within minutes and continued attempts to revive Bennett.
“(First responders) worked on him for a period of time. Ultimately they were unsuccessful,” Decker said.
Granite Shoals Police Department responded to the scene to launch an investigation.
Bennet was pronounced dead at 9:04 p.m. by Burnet County Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Roxanne Nelson.
“We were able to rule out any kind of criminal incident,” Decker said. “It was either a massive medical incident or some tragic accident that resulted in the victim going into the water.”
The results of an autopsy by Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office is pending.