Family members wait as search resumes for man missing in Jordan Lake

Authorities brought in a plane to conduct an aerial search while crews in the water continued using sniffer dogs and sonar to try to find Ricky Hill. The 50-year-old Siler City man was on a family outing at the lake Sunday afternoon when he fell from an inner-tube into the water and never resurfaced.

Authorities have said alcohol was not a factor, and there were no boating violations. Hill, who is presumed dead, was not wearing a life jacket but knew how to swim and had no known medical problems.

Hill’s family members had requested privacy Sunday and Monday, but they spoke with WRAL News on Tuesday about the man they described as “poppy” to his six grandchildren.

“Ricky was the serious person in the family,” said Bill Lundsford, his brother-in-law. “He was family strong. Good father, hard worker. He loved his family.”

Hill lived in Siler City for 26 years and was married for 29 years. He loved to fish and spend his free time at the lake, Lundsford said.

Hill also had a great sense of humor.

“For us, my sister and myself, Ricky was the target of all of our abuse,” Lundsford said. “He took it like a champion, and no matter what we said and how much we picked on him, he knew that we loved him and it was all in fun.”

Lundsford recalled that his father gave Hill a hard time about marrying Lundsford’s sister and made him sign a contract. It proved unnecessary because Hill was “a great man,” he said.