Man who died in Pender Co. boating accident identified

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Wildlife Resource Officers have identified the man who died in a boating accident Sunday near Topsail Island.

Master Officer David Sellers said John Andrew Hughes, 58, from Columbia, Maryland died Sunday when the boat he was on capsized.

Sellers said he was fishing with his friend Sean Patrick Mcentee, 59, from Hampstead
and his son John Matthew Huge. 

Sellers said Huges’ son called 911 around 11:15 a.m. Sellers said they were on a 19 foot Carolina Skiff about 50 to 100 yards when it capsized. He said none of them were wearing life jackets.

Sellers said the men got on top of the boat a few times and kept getting knocked off by waves.

Sellers said the men tried to swim to shore and do chest compressions on Hughes, but Hughes was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sellers said Hughes had a heart attack several years ago. Sellers said he cannot say for sure what may have caused his death, but it may have been a combination of hypothermia and his previous history with heart attacks.

Sellers said they are still waiting on a cause of death from a coroner.