CLARKSON — Joe Hardman had just placed a brand new sign at the entrance to the Pine Springs subdivision where he and several other people have second homes near the banks of Nolin Lake in the Wax community.

Hardman, 59, was an avid boater and well known as the go-to guy in the neighborhood for getting things done such as the new gravel at the end of the Pine Springs boat ramp not far from where search and rescue personnel found him in about 12-feet of water at about 9 a.m. Monday.

“It appears at this time to be an accidental drowning,” Deputy Grayson County Coroner Larry Holeman said. “We’re speculating that he lost his balance and fell in the water.”

His body was sent Monday to the state medical examiner’s office in Louisville for an autopsy, Holeman said.

Hardman went missing Sunday night, Wax Fire and Rescue Chief David Strader said. A relative of Hartman’s had moved the truck and boat trailer to another ramp to pull Hardman’s pontoon out of the water. When Hardman didn’t show at the other ramp, his family went looking for him. They found Hardman’s pontoon boat with the engine still running sitting near the Pine Springs boat ramp.

Search and rescue personnel began their search at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday and stayed with the search until about 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, resuming at 5:30 Monday morning. By using a sonar and divers, emergency crews were able to find Hardman’s body.