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5 missing juveniles paddleboarding rescued at Belews Lake

Emergency workers rescued five missing juveniles Monday night found in cold temperatures at Belews Lake in Stokes County.
Credit: polack - stock.adobe.com
Close-up of the blue and red lights on top of a police vehicle.

STOKES COUNTY, N.C. — Five juveniles are safe Monday night thanks to emergency workers in Stokes County. 

The Stokes County Emergency Services said the juveniles were rescued while paddleboarding on Belews Lake. 

Workers said around 4 p.m. a father brought one of the juveniles who got cold back to the car from paddleboarding but then lost sight of the others. The father went to look for them before calling deputies for help around 6 p.m. 

Rescuers recently found the juveniles in stable condition. They were all taken to Baptist Hospital where they're being evaluated. They were discovered between Pine Hall boat ramp and Humphfree Ridge. 

I would like to thank all the volunteer fire departments for coming out to help with this search and rescue,” Stokes County Emergency Services Director Brandon Gentry said. "It felt good for everyone on the team to come together."

Meteorologist Tim Buckley said temperatures were in the low 30s at the time of the search. 

“This could have been a bad outcome due to the weather conditions and being out on the water," Gentry said.

Gentry said a man living on the lake took action and began looking for the juveniles after someone told him about it on the police scanner. The man found three of them and the sheriff’s deputies found the other two.

A number of fire departments assisted in the search. 

  • North Carolina Wildlife
  • Madison Fire Department 
  • Belews Creek Fire Department 
  • Lewisville Fire Dept. assisted with their drones 
  • Stokes Rockingham/Fire and Rescue 
  • Stokes County EMS
  • Stokes County Sheriff’s Office 
  • Stokes County Fire Marshal 
  • North Carolina Emergency Management 
  • NC Highway Patrol 
  • NC Department of Transportation 
  • Fulps Towing

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