BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 27, 2022
Thomas Averill, 55, was fishing on Ellis Pond in Roxbury by himself in a 14-foot aluminum boat about 7:50 p.m. Tuesday. Witnesses saw the boat drifting across the pond with no one aboard and heard Averill’s calls for help. They called 911, and others took boats out onto the pond but were only able to find a hat floating in the water. His body was spotted by a Maine Warden Service pilot about 8:10 a.m. Averill was not wearing a life jacket. “It appears that Averill was out fishing, and fell out of his boat while not wearing a life jacket when the boat was still in gear and moving forward,” Game Warden Sergeant Kyle Hladik said. “Tragically, this is another incident where wearing your life jacket could have saved a life.”