Kingman Lake - Deaths and Accidents

Deaths and Accidents

Deaths and accidents in and around Kingman Lake have unfortunately been numerous. The first confirmed death in Kingman Lake occurred on August 5, 1937, when William O'Bryant, a 19-year-old African American youth, drowned in the lake in front of two friends after diving from a fishing boat. Over the next four decades, at least 31 people drowned in the lake.

Some of the more unusual accidents and deaths involving the lake include:

• On January 22, 1943, a two-engine U.S. Army Air Corps transport plane piloted by Brigadier General Luther S. Smith crashed in Kingman Lake after its engines failed shortly after takeoff at Bolling Air Force Base. Neither Smith nor the four enlisted men traveling with him were injured.
• The body of a male transvestite, still wearing women's clothing, was found in Kingman Lake in July 1944. An investigation and autopsy revealed that the man committed suicide after leaping off Benning Bridge where it crossed the lake.
• Four teenage boys drowned in Kingman Lake in June 1951 after a high-speed police chase. The four had stolen several cakes from a local bakery and were attempting to flee from police in a stolen vehicle. The driver lost control of the automobile, which plunged from Benning Bridge into Kingman Lake.
• A seven-year-old boy, which the local media dubbed the "Cold Crusoe" (after the fictional shipwrecked character of Robinson Crusoe), was rescued from Island No. 3 in Kingman Lake in February 1956. The boy allegedly swam to the island using a log as a raft. With no sign of a boat, police believed the boy had drowned. After several days, the police finally located the child (who revealed how he got to the island).
• A 13-year-old boy in a stolen automobile plunged into Kingman Lake in 1959 while being chased by police. The boy later said he had no idea the lake was there.