Wreck claims life in Defeated

By Eddie West Staff Writer

One person died after the vehicle which they were driving left the roadway, struck a tree and traveled into the Cordell Hull Lake in the Defeated community.

 The single vehicle accident occurred in the Defeated community Thursday night around 5:40 p.m. in the area of 157 of Lakeside Drive.

The victim was identified as Mary Margaret Watkins, age 75 and a Defeated resident.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) which investigated the accident, “Watkins was traveling west on Lakeside Drive in a 2021 Toyota Venza when the vehicle she was driving traveled off the right shoulder of the roadway, continuing down an embankment and into a tree before entering the waters of the Cordell Hull Lake.”

The vehicle was totally submerged and not visible from the surface because of the murky water as well the depth of the vehicle.

The site of the accident was just south of the Beasley Hollow Lane located on the opposite side of the lake in the general area of the boatramp/beach at the Defeated Recreational Area’s day use area. 

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