71-year-old man killed in kayaking accident on Coosa River

An Opelika man was killed in a kayaking accident Sunday on the Coosa River in Elmore.

Alabama State Troopers Sunday night identified the victim as Charles Reid Cloninger Jr. He was 71.

Authorities said Cloninger was kayaking near Corn Creek when he became displaced from the vessel. A bystander pulled Cloninger from the water a short time later near Gold Star Park in Wetumpka, but he was pronounced dead at Elmore Community Hospital.

The accident remains under investigation by troopers and ALEA's Marine Patrol Division.

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