Authorities suspend search for man missing in Falls Lake

Authorities have suspended a search for a man who fell from a boat on Falls Lake Monday afternoon.

Authorities said that Tammy Oakley Albright of Durham and Claude Woodrow Weaver Jr. of Butner were both thrown from the boat, which continued to circle in the water.

Doug Fletcher, a friend of the pair on the boat, said the pair was out on Falls Lake for a day of fishing. Fletcher said other boaters told him what happened to his friends.

"All of a sudden, they heard a strange noise," he said. "He said he could see the boat circling around and around and around and it threw both of them out."

Fletcher said Albright was struggling to stay above water and nearby boaters were able to get her to safety, but the Weaver was nowhere to be found.

"[They] found his hat and found his sunglasses," Fletcher said.

Albright was in stable condition at Duke Hospital Tuesday.

It was unclear if the Albright and Weaver were wearing lifejackets.

Lt. Wes Barger with the North Carolina Wildlife Commission said the search became unsafe for divers as darkness fell but the search resumed at 8 a.m. Tuesday with divers and cadaver dogs.

"An active search is going on for that missing person," Barger said. "Search and rescue units will go back out on the water to conduct surface searches, shoreline searches and searches with their equipment on the boat."

The search was expected to resume again Wednesday morning.