REIDSVILLE -- A man who fell through ice into a frigid pond and died on Sunday will miss welcoming his baby boy to the world in April, friends of the family said.
Phillip Daniel Skelley, 34, whom friends described as a "smart and soft-spoken'' musician, had apparently been searching for his dog near the 8000 block of U.S. 29 South before he was reported missing.
Deputies and a dive team, with the help of canines, recovered Skelley's body from a pond near Burton Road about 3:47 p.m. on Sunday, according to a news release from the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office.
The death marks the third apparent ice-break fatality in the Triad within seven days, eliciting strong warnings by Triad EMS officials that residents should stay away from all ice-glazed bodies of water, frozen by recent persistently low temperatures.
Sheriff's officials said the dog was not recovered.
At the pond, authorities discovered one large hole and a smaller hole in the ice, the release said. Investigators believe Skelley's dog may have fallen through ice into the pond and Skelley may have tried to rescue it, falling through ice, as well.
Hailey Dowless, Skelley's girlfriend, shared a somber message on her Facebook page on Tuesday, asking for support as she faces the last couple of months of her pregnancy.
"If you know me personally, you know I hate asking for things and I'm super stubborn but I will absolutely do anything to help others. Daniel Skelley was the same way,'' Dowless wrote. "A lot of people have reached out and asked me how to help or to let them know if I needed anything and this would be my answer. I would absolutely love to be prepared for this baby and I know this is what Daniel would want me to focus on.'' Link to the registry here: https://www.amazon.com/.../hailey-dowless.../1UWP1ZCKUSB8R
Music was Skelley's passion, friends said of the guitarist who played in several rock bands across the region in recent years.
Skelley, who sometimes rode a soft green Kawasaki motorcycle, cut his chops on electric guitar and was "one helluva guitar player,'' said fellow musician and close family friend Crockett Saunders of Madison.
"I spoke to Phillip (Daniel's dad) last night and he's just devastated,'' Saunders said of Phillip D. Skelley, the parent with whom Daniel had bonded over music, traveling to concerts and music festivals over the years.
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"So he's lost his son, now he's anticipating the birth of his grandson... tragic accident,'' Saunders said.
Skelley's musical legacy lives on, especially with bandmates.
"He was a very free-spirited guy, really nice, and he played guitar with me in the punk rock band, Boxxer,'' said Griffin Lanning of Mayodan, noting Skelley preferred B.C. Rich guitars.
Boxxer gigged at clubs around the region where Skelley showcased his signature metal guitar riffs, Lanning said. "He contributed a lot of style to the band from his knowledge of metal.''
A graduate of Eden's Morehead High School who attended Danville Community College, Skelley had worked as a machinist.
"Daniel was a good worker, a hard worker and a very good man,'' said former employer Randy Alderson, CFO of CRB Electrical and Mechanical in Chatham, Va.
Skelley found plenty of time for communing with nature. A favorite way was floating down the Dan or Mayo rivers, standing on a paddle board.
And music festivals like Floydfest in Floyd, Va., were favorite special trips for Skelley, Lanning said.
Deputies, Rockingham County EMS, the Guilford Association of SCUBA Personnel and several local fire departments helped in the search. Skelly's death is being considered as an accidental incident, the release said.
On Jan. 12, a toddler died in Whitsett when his sled went onto an icy pond at a golf course, causing him to fall through thin ice, authorities said.
Also, one of three children rescued from an ice-covered Winston-Salem pond Thursday evening, has died from related injuries.
Safety experts say ice atop water bodies in the Triad can't support even the weight of a child and is never safe to stand on. Falls into icy water can cause drowning or rapid hypothermia leading to death, first responders caution.
(336) 349-4331, ext. 6140
@SpearSusie_RCN
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