By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

SHELBY–A Helena man has drowned in Lay Lake and his body was recovered on Monday, Aug. 14, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The incident occurred on Lay Lake just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, when Maxie Pernell Blalock, III, 41, went into the water near Waxahatchee Creek and did not resurface.

Blalock’s body was recovered near the area where he went into the water two days later.

The Calera Dive Team, North East Shelby Rescue, Tallapoosa Rescue, Childersburg Rescue and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office assisted ALEA with the search and recovery efforts.

Nothing further was available on Aug. 14 as ALEA Troopers with the Marine Patrol Division continued to investigate the drowning.

The drowning marked the second reported in Shelby County on the same day.

At about 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 13, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched after a passerby called to report a body in a lake near Brantley Lake Road, which is off Shelby County 270 in Alabaster.

When they arrived, deputies discovered the body of 53-year-old Rickey Dale Giles of Maylene in the private lake.

No foul play is suspected in the Alabaster drowning.