Hendersonville Standard
HENDERSONVILLE WEATHER

Search continues for missing fisherman




James Sandifer

James Sandifer

First responders continued to search this week for a missing Hendersonville man they believe may have accidently drowned while fishing on Old Hickory Lake last week.

Hendersonville police responded to a call that James David Sandifer, 62, had reportedly left to go fishing at Rockland Park around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30, but never returned home.

While police were able to locate his vehicle parked at Rockland Park the following day, there was no sign of Sandifer, Fire Chief Scotty Bush said.

“We searched from the moment we were notified – we spend the first three or four days through Saturday and even searched on the opposite side (of the lake) with the help of Metro and didn’t see anything,” Bush said.

Bush added that Sandifer did not have a boat and that there did not seem to be any foul play involved in his disappearance.

With the amount of water generated by the dam, Bush said he believes the body has since been carried away.

“We are thinking he got caught up in that,” he said. “He was fishing off that rocky, slippery hillside and I don’t think there’s any debate that he drowned.”

The Hendersonville Police Department is requesting that anyone who was in the area of Rockland Park between 3 p.m. on Tuesday and 6 a.m. on Wednesday who may have seen Sandifer to contact the Hendersonville Police Department or call the Hendersonville Crime Stoppers at 615-573-5400.

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