A 75-year-old man visiting from New Hampshire was found dead Saturday morning in the 4400 block of Northampton Boulevard in Virginia Beach after emergency crews responded to a report of a boater in distress. Police identified him as Gary Jacobs. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators say the case remains active.
A local tug notified the U.S. Coast Guard around 6 a.m. Saturday that a vessel matching the Slow Ride’s description was adrift, according to 13News Now. The Virginia Beach Police Department says its Emergency Communications and Citizen Services center received a separate report of a boater in distress around 7 a.m. that morning, and responding officers located Jacobs after arriving on scene.
Where the Search Unfolded
The stretch of Northampton Boulevard where Jacobs was found sits alongside the Lake Lawson and Lake Smith preserve, a 42-acre freshwater reservoir complex with public boat ramps and fishing platforms, according to Visit Virginia Beach. The parks and launches along that corridor are maintained by Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, but the reservoir waters themselves are actually owned and regulated by the City of Norfolk, which requires boaters to hold Norfolk permits to operate on the lakes, per reporting from LP Media.
That overlapping jurisdiction means water rescues and recoveries on the lake fall to specialized units rather than a single agency. Maritime emergencies within Virginia Beach municipal waters are handled by the police department's Special Operations Division, which includes a Marine Patrol and Dive Team trained for water recoveries and maritime law enforcement, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department. Police say Virginia Beach Fire Department and EMS personnel responded alongside officers Saturday.
Investigation Still Open
Police have not released a cause of death or detailed how Jacobs ended up in the water, describing the investigation as active and ongoing. It is not yet known whether Jacobs suffered a medical emergency, whether a vessel capsized, whether he was wearing a life jacket, or what kind of watercraft he had been using.
Virginia law requires boat operators involved in an incident resulting in death or disappearance to notify the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources or local law enforcement immediately and to file a written report within 48 hours, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Separately, state code requires anyone operating a motorboat of 10 horsepower or greater on public waters to complete a NASBLA-approved boating safety course, regardless of age, under Virginia law.
A Sobering Pattern in State Boating Deaths
The circumstances of Jacobs's death remain unresolved, but it adds to a broader pattern the state has been tracking. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources' 2025 Recreational Boating Incident Summary recorded 75 reportable boating incidents involving 100 vessels statewide last year, resulting in 46 injuries and 10 fatalities. Of those who died in Virginia boating incidents in 2025, roughly 90% were not wearing a personal flotation device, according to data reported by the Rappahannock Record.
Nationally, the picture has been trending in a safer direction. Recreational boating fatalities across the country fell to 556 in 2024, the lowest total recorded in more than 50 years, for a fatality rate of 4.8 deaths per 100,000 registered vessels, per the Water Sports Foundation. Alcohol remained the single largest known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents nationwide, accounting for 20 percent, or 92, of total fatalities, according to the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas.
For now, Virginia Beach police have offered no further details on what led to Jacobs's death, and Jacobs was aboard a 44-foot trawler named the Slow Ride.
