Clovis man drowns at Sumner Lake (updated)

It’s not every day that a tenant will take a 60-mile trip because his landlord was in trouble.

Every landlord wasn’t Ricky Boddy.

There was a noticeable absence Monday at the Ideal RV and Trailer Park about a mile north of the Cannon Air Force Base main gate, where residents already knew Boddy, 53, drowned in a Saturday evening boating accident at Sumner Lake State Park.

A sign at the office of the park informed residents of the accident and requested privacy for the family. A call placed to family members was answered, with Boddy’s eldest son noting they appreciated the support they had received, but were not ready to talk about their father.

The park includes dozens of RVs and trailers, with many of the tenants living there for years. Lorraine Sapudar has been a tenant for 14 years, and believes Boddy has been a friend just as long.

“At the time,” Sapudar said, “I was a single parent who had just moved to New Mexico. He has been very good to me and my daughters. Anybody who comes into contact with him, he will help them."

When some residents heard about the accident, Sapudar said, some drove to Sumner Lake to see if they could help.

Boddy could frequently be found killing time in the main office, either ready to share a joke or to ask somebody else if they knew a good one. Sapudar also said when there were minor tasks around the park, he would give tenants a first crack at them for a few dollars before calling a professional service.

“There are people in the park who couldn’t afford their rent, and he’d let them slide,” Sapudar said. “He wouldn’t stress them out about it. If there was any problem I had, he would be somebody I could talk to.”

Park Ranger Sara Brown said nothing new was revealed as of Monday afternoon in the investigation of the drowning of Boddy, who went out to the state park with his family to celebrate the Independence Day weekend.

Park Superintendent Ray Drake said on Sunday that he received a call about a possible drowning at 6:44 p.m. on Saturday. He said witnesses told him Boddy was trying to dock his boat on the west side of the lake when it drifted away.

“He jumped in to go get it,” Drake said. “It’s hard to say exactly what happened. The witnesses said they saw him swim a little and then he went down.”

A dive team from the New Mexico State Police recovered the body at 2:29 p.m. on Sunday, Drake said. His body was found near the area where witnesses reported they last saw the victim.

Drake said the Office of the Medical Investigator took the body as part of the investigation into the incident.

Drake said Boddy and family members had arrived at the lake on Saturday.

The park remained open throughout, but Brown said the main boat ramp was closed during the search to limit traffic around the area of the investigation.

Park staff confirmed the last drowning at the lake was Josh Kenyon, who went missing June 1, 2008, while jet skiing and was found three days later.

Clovis Media Inc. Editor David Stevens contributed to this report.