Wildlife expert drowns in Myrtle Beach on SC vacation

A Kentucky woman drowned over the weekend while visiting the Myrtle Beach area.

Laurie Davison, 52 of Lexington, Kentucky, was pulled from the ocean Sunday morning, Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said.

Davison, the manager of the Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort, Ky., was on vacation with her family in South Carolina, said Tim Slone, a director of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

“I was her boss but also her friend,” Slone said. “She is going to be greatly missed.”

Davison joined the center in 2000, and everything the center has done in the past 15 years, she had a hand in shaping, Slone said.

Davison basically led the way in making the center what it is today, said Fish and Wildlife Department spokesman Mark Marraccini.

“She was a valuable member of our fish and wildlife community,” Marraccini said. “All wildlife was important to Laurie.”

Davison is survived by two children and her partner, Mary, Marraccini said.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Wildlife expert drowns in Myrtle Beach on SC vacation."