NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The body of a missing boater was recovered Wednesday afternoon from Percy Priest Lake after a three-day search, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
TWRA identified the man as 72-year-old Phillip Green of Nashville. His body was located shortly after 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The search began Monday afternoon after Green disappeared while swimming in the lake with a female companion.
Investigators said the pair had gotten off their pontoon boat to swim using a single pool noodle for flotation. While they were in the water, winds caused the boat to drift away.
Green, who was not wearing a personal flotation device, tried to swim back to the boat but went underwater and did not resurface, according to the woman who was with him.
The woman remained in the water with the pool noodle for more than an hour before another boater rescued her.
Because first responders did not know exactly where Green disappeared, crews had to search a large section of the lake. Over the next two days, teams searched several locations across an estimated 200 to 300 acres of open water.
TWRA resumed the search at 8 a.m. Wednesday with help from CAM-SAR, a volunteer emergency response organization that uses remotely operated vehicles and sonar technology in open-water searches.
CAM-SAR personnel identified a target area using tow-fish sonar, and TWRA investigators then sent a remotely operated vehicle to the location.
Green's body was found around 3:20 p.m. Divers with the Nashville Office of Emergency Management recovered him from the water.
TWRA, Nashville OEM, the Nashville Fire Department and Metro Nashville Police Department were involved in the search.
The incident remains under investigation. TWRA said Green's death marks the 14th boating-related death on Tennessee waters in 2026.
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