The Richmond County Coroner’s Office has ordered an autopsy on a man found floating Friday afternoon in the Augusta Canal at 12th and Telfair Street. In an unrelated case, Coroner Mark Bowen also ordered an autopsy on a contract painter who collapsed while working at Augusta National Golf Club earlier this week. He later died, and his name was not immediately available. In Friday’s death, 69-year-old Kenneth Dawson was found floating in the canal at 12th and Telfair streets.The body of Kenneth Dawson, 69, was found floating Friday afternoon in the Augusta Canal at 12th and Telfair Street (pictured here) The coroner said Dawson was homeless and might have died from a “possible drowning.” Dawson’s body was removed from the canal by the Fire Department and he was pronounced dead on the scene at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Bowen said. Dawson will have an autopsy done the GBI Lab. In the Augusta National case, the coroner said he is waiting on results of the autopsy, which was ordered since there was no obvious cause of death and the painter had no known medical history. The death was believed to have happened on Monday. Note: If you have a better photo of Dawson, please text it to 803-487-3224.
Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle, The Augusta Press and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel.
