Wayne County Press,
Fairfield Illinois,
Monday, June 14, 1976,
Page 2

A 38-year-old former Fairfield woman, Barbara (Tibbs) Kennett, the wife of  Darrell Kennett, of Fairfield, drowned early Sunday morning in a gravel pit  near Carmi.

Mrs. Kennett and three friends had been swimming in Pritchett's gravel pit  in Bowman's Bend about six miles east of Carmi when the tragedy occurred.

White County Coroner Bill Hall told the Press that at 6:30 a.m., Mrs.  Kennett was in the water by herself about 15 to 20 feet from the bank.

Her friends told authorities they saw her go under once, break the surface, and then submerge a second time. She never came back up.  The trio drove hastily to a nearby farmhouse and notified Carmi authorities. Coroner Hall, Carmi police, civil defensemen and the White County conservation officer were dispatched to the gravel pit.

At about 8:20 a.m., Mrs. Kennett's body, clothed in a two-piece swimming  suit, was brought up from dragging operations. She was found in about 25 feet of water.

Hall said the pit consisted of about 1 1/2 acres of water and he said there was no apparent explanation why she went under. The pit is posted against  swimming.

Mrs. Kennett, reportedly estranged from her husband, Darrell, had been with the three friends most of the evening and hadn't been swimming very long, the press was told.  Coroner Hall said an inquest will be conducted later.

Her body has been taken to Nales Funeral Home in Albion where arrangements were incomplete Monday morning (today).

Mrs. Kennett was reared in Albion where her mother, Mrs. Zella Woods, still  resides. She had, however, lived in Fairfield.  She was living here when she married Mr. Kennett.

Surviving are her husband, Darrell; one son, Randy Goodman, of Fairfield;  one daughter, Lisa Goodman, of Cambridge, O.; her mother, Mrs. Woods; and a  stepbrother, Darrell Woods, of Indianapolis, Ind.