HOUMA, La. — Authorities say a 45-year-old Houma woman drowned after attempting to swim across the Intracoastal Waterway on Tuesday evening.
According to the Houma Police Department, Roberta Mackles entered the waterway around 7 p.m. and "for an unknown reason" tried to swim from the west bank to the east bank of the waterway south of the Twin Spans. Police say witnesses lost sight of Mackles as she sank below the surface and did not resurface.
Around 11 p.m., Mackles' body was found by the police, Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office and the United States Coast Guard.
"The Houma Police Department would like to remind everyone of the dangers associated with swimming in the Intracoastal Waterway as the currents are often too strong for a person to overcome," a statement from the police department said.
The woman's death is just the latest of several drowning incidents to make headlines in southeast Louisiana. On Sunday, a 2-year-old from Port Allen, La., drowned in a pool at the Margaritaville Resort Biloxi. A day earlier, a 14-year-old from Baton Rouge was presumed dead after being swept into rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico while on vacation in Orange Beach, Ala.
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