93-year-old Raleigh man found dead at Jordan Lake

A 93-year-old Raleigh man was found dead at Jordan Lake Saturday morning.

Stirling Danskin was found dead near the Seaforth access area to the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area in Pittsboro, said Michele Walker, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, on Sunday morning.

Walker didn’t know how the man died. The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately return a telephone message left Sunday morning.

A ranger noticed a car, later discovered to be Danskin’s, parked at the park after it closed on Thursday evening, Walker said.

It’s common for people to leave their cars at the park overnight, Walker said. Typically the ranger will leave a note on the vehicle, and then someone will check on it the next day, which is what happened in this case, Walker said.

After no one came back to the car on Friday, park officials reviewed video footage of when Danskin arrived and contacted emergency officials to do a wellness check at Danskin’s home. They also began a search for him at the recreation area on Friday, which was hindered by bad weather, Walker said.

On Saturday the search resumed and Danskin was found mid-morning, Walker said.

In April, a 19-year-old died after a witness reported seeing someone struggling to stay above the water line in Jordan Lake near Clark Poe Road, The News & Observer reported.