Fisherman’s body pulled from pond

TIVERTON, R.I.—A man fishing on a Tiverton pond apparently drowned after the boat he was in tipped over.

Fire department officials said two men were fishing in the boat on Stafford Pond when it capsized at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The victim was 68-year-old Clifford Hancock, a retired Tiverton public works employee. Fire officials said he was found without a flotation device.

Hancock’s daughter described her father as “a gentleman and would help anybody who needed it.“

The other man, whose name was not released, made it to shore.

The death came almost exactly a year after a Tiverton firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack while searching for another missing fisherman. Lt. Gerald Leduc and boater Joseph Traficante both died.

“It was unbelievable to us that one year later because it was still fresh in everyone’s mind and we’re still trying to heal from it…to have another drowning especially a local citizen that everyone knows so well,“ said Chief Robert Lloyd of the Tiverton Fire Department.