Man Dies in Apparent Drowning in Veterans Village Lake

Pasco Sheriff’s detectives are investigating an apparent drowning of a 63-year-old man in a lake behind his Veterans Village home.

Gavin Gene Grace, of 3212 Kismet Court, was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on Tuesday, March 1, by Pasco Fire Rescue paramedics. Detectives are awaiting autopsy and toxicology results in the case, but it appears accidental, authorities said.

About 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, Sandra Spears, 71, went outside to tell Grace, her live-in boyfriend who was fishing, that his sister was on the phone, a Pasco Sheriff’s Office report states. When she walked outside, she saw Grace, who was fishing, stumble on the seawall and fall into the lake. Spears screamed and grabbed a pole to help him get out of the water. When she got to the edge of the lake, however, Grace was standing up laughing.

“I fell in the lake again,” he reportedly told her.

She tried to hand him the pole but instead of grabbing hold, the report states, he started swimming toward the middle of the lake and then disappeared under the water. Spears jumped in and pulled him to shore.

When deputies arrived, according to the report, Grace’s body was lying on the seawall with his legs hanging over. No signs of trauma were observed, a detective noted. Two plastic lawn chairs were nearby with Grace’s fishing pole and tackle box set beside them. A near-empty gallon bottle of Carlo Rossi Merlot wine was underneath one of the chairs, and an empty bottle of Christian Brothers Ruby Port was in front of them.

Spears told detectives Grace was on several prescribed medications for arthritis and bipolar disorder, including Lamotrigine and hydrocodone.