JOHNSTON COUNTY – Authorities have released the name of an elderly Johnston County man who drowned. The incident was reported at 6:50pm Sunday at a pond about 1,000 feet off Covered Bridge Road near Jensen Drive, in northern Johnston County.
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said 85 year-old Early Wilder, of Thanksgiving Fire Road, Zebulon, went to the pond Sunday afternoon to clear vegetation near a drain. When Mr. Wilder did not return home as planned for dinner, his family went to the location and found the victim in the pond.
EMS responded to the scene and pronounced the victim deceased. The incident was ruled accidental.
