Father, son drown at lake

A son and father from Amarillo became the 21st and 22nd drownings at Lake Greenbelt after a weekend hunting expedition turned to tragedy last Saturday.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Hotan Ahnood and his father, Bashir Ahnood, had come to the lake with two other men to hunt geese on Kelly Creek across from Kincaid Park.

“Hotan got in a small orange plastic kayak to retrieve a goose,” the sheriff said. “It capsized, and he went into the water.”

Blackburn said the other three men saw the 17-year-old go under, and the boy’s 46-year-old father stripped to his long underwear and tried to swim to him in water that was estimated between 36° and 41°F.

“He probably succumbed to the water temperature,” Blackburn said.

The remaining members of the hunting party found someone with a cell phone and called 911, and local emergency personnel were dispatched at 12:43 p.m.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department and CVFD Dive Team began searching for the bodies of the two hunters assisted by the sheriff’s department, Greenbelt Lake Patrol, Associated Ambulance Authority, Howardwick Fire Department, and a helicopter from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

CVFD First Assistant Chief Jeremy Powell said special dry suits were used by the divers to help combat the cold water, but divers still were only able to stay submerged fro no longer than 15 minutes at a time.

“The divers worked to the point of exhaustion Saturday,” Blackburn said; and the search was called off about dark.

The hunters’ family arrived at the sheriff’s office that evening.

“They were extremely distraught,” Blackburn said.

The Ahnoods and their family were recent immigrants to America, having fled religious persecution in Iran for practicing a faith with ancient roots to Christianity – Mandaeanism, which follows the teachings of John the Baptist.

“The family had a hard time adjusting and understanding the procedures we have to follow during a tragedy like this,” the sheriff said.

Blackburn credited dispatcher Pat Archuleta with calming and comforting the family that evening and working with Pastor Terry Lowe to house the family at the First United Methodist Church that night.

The search resumed Sunday morning with Texas Parks & Wildlife Game Wardens and Underwater Recovery from Hereford using side scan sonar to find a possible location for one of the bodies.

Donley County Commissioner Andy Wheatly using his Finch Ranch Helicopter confirmed the location from the air and dropped a buoy to mark the spot. Divers entered the water at 9:50 a.m. and recovered the father’s body at 9:53 a.m. 75 feet from shore and in 13 feet of water.

Sonar scanning resumed for the boy, and search dogs from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Childress joined the effort. The coordinated search identified another possible location. Divers entered the water at 11:34 a.m. and recovered the son’s body at 11:37 a.m. He was 550 feet from shore and in 16 feet of water.

Justice of the Peace Ann Kennedy pronounced Bashir Ahnood dead at 10:19 a.m. and pronounced Hotan Ahnood dead at 12:09 p.m. The cause of both deaths was given as “drowning.”

“Due to the conditions of the bodies and the reliable statements of witnesses, no autopsies were ordered,” Blackburn said.

The sheriff gave credit to the members of the dive team and everyone who supports them.

“They deserve a special thanks,” Blackburn said.

Powell also recognized the EMS personnel, the Clarendon Firebelles, and Eddie and Donna Bartley for their efforts during the search and recovery.

Neither of the Ahnoods was wearing a lifejacket.
Six people have now drowned at Greenbelt since June 2007. But since the lake opened in 1968, no one has ever drowned at the lake while wearing a life preserver.