Recovery Operations At Lake For Missing Woman Postponed

BY CLAIRE GALOFARO
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. – Recovery operations for a woman reported missing at Lake View Dock Marina, scheduled to resume Friday, have been postponed indefinitely, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Jim Allen said. 

“Nothing has changed,” Allen said Friday. “They’ve drug and drug and drug in the area. What they really need is deep-water divers and that possibly could take some time.”

Alice Bachman, 55, of Johnson City, has been missing since Tuesday evening.

After nearly two days of searching unsuccessfully with divers, dragging equipment and submersible cameras, recovery teams pulled back at 12:15 a.m. Thursday. They have since been trying to put together a deep-water dive team.

Due to an error on a news release issued Wednesday by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, previous reports were incorrect on the time line of Tuesday’s events. While it was earlier stated that officers responded to the scene at 7 p.m., that is the time Bachman is believed to have disappeared, according to an operations report obtained from the sheriff’s office. The first emergency call, by marina owner John Slagle, was made at 10:09 p.m., and sheriff’s deputies arrived at 11 p.m., according to the operations report.

Bachman’s 15-year-old son last saw his mother at 6:30 p.m., when he and a friend left her at the family boat slip to get dinner at the marina and do some fishing. She was covering the boat, according to the incident report filed by a sheriff’s deputy. Her flip flops, purse, beach towels and an empty cooler were on the dock, and the boat’s cover was half on.

When the son was unable to find her, he went back to the boat for her cell phone and called his father.

Slagle told police that Bachman fell into the water last week while trying to cover the boat. The incident report also noted that she ran five miles, four days a week and took no medications.

The unsuccessful searches, and lack of details about what happened Tuesday have weighed heavily on those who knew Bachman, who worked for the United Way of Washington County, Tenn.

On Friday, United Way Executive Director Lester Lattany called Bachman, “my right and left hand.”

Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Elton said Friday that the specifics of the rescue effort were not available through the sheriff’s office, and he referred inquiries regarding responding personnel and equipment to TVA and the Kingsport Life Saving Crew.

“On situations like this, agencies respond with the same purpose: to locate, rescue, assist and help,” Elton said. “We all get there, everything gets done and somebody is in charge.”

On Thursday, the Kingsport Life Saving Crew said they were not authorized to release any information. They could not be reached by phone Friday.

News Channel 11 Connects reporter Nate Morabito contributed to this report.

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