Bobby Joe O’Quinn III helped to save Stormy L. Dunaway and died attempting to save Audrionna S. Lofton from drowning, Bude, Mississippi, April 2, 2011. Stormy, 9, and Audrionna, 7, were playing with other children in the water off a beach at Okhissa Lake. The girls encountered difficulty near the buoy line, which was about 40 feet from the bank. Adults responding from their party included O’Quinn, 19. Removing his shoes, O’Quinn entered the water and waded and swam out to Stormy, who was holding to a buoy. He pulled her from it and pushed her to another man, who then took her to safety. As Audrionna was not visible, O’Quinn and others swam in search of her. During his search efforts, O’Quinn submerged and did not re-surface. Rescue personnel arrived and recovered Audrionna’s body within a few hours; she had drowned. The search for O’Quinn continued the following day and into the next, when his body was located beyond the buoy line in water 35 feet deep. He too had drowned.
83967 – 9517
83967-9517Obituary
Bobby Joe O’Quinn III, 19, of Bude, Miss., died on April 2, 2011, in Franklin County, Miss. He was born in Brookhaven, Miss., on Aug. 21, 1991, to Valeria A. Moore O’Quinn and Bobby Joe O’Quinn, Sr.
He was a member of the Franklin County High School football team, the Power Lifting Club, and the Archery Club.
Services were held on April 9, 1011, in the Franklin County High School Auditorium. Burial was in Burnett Cemetery.
(Edited from an obituary in The Daily Leader, April 8, 2011.)