BOGALUSA, La. — Deputies on the Northshore are still searching for a missing boater after two boaters went missing in the Pearl River Monday. One body was recovered. It happened near Bogalusa by the Poole's Bluff Boat Launch.
Search teams in the Pearl River are looking for 47-year-old Eric Josh Williams from Holden. He's been missing since Monday afternoon after taking a boat out with 50-year-old Joe Newby from Covington. The Washington Parish Sheriff's Office identified the boaters Tuesday.
"From what we understand, the owner of the boat just purchased it and they were just testing it out," Corporal Lee Davis with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said.
Authorities learned the two men launched into the Pearl River around 3 p.m Monday. Later that day, deputies got the call that the men hadn't come home, and weren't answering their phones. Rescuers from several agencies jumped in to search. The Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries is leading the investigation. The Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Marine Division, The Coast Guard, and a helicopter assisted in the search Monday evening.
"We’ll stay as long as we can," Davis said.
Newby's body was found around midnight just 400 yards downriver from a low head dam, also called a sill. Williams is still missing.
"We’re still searching everywhere we can below the sill because were pretty confident that’s where the accident happened," Davis said.
He explains that when the river is low, the water level drops about 4 feet at the dam and if boaters aren't familiar with it, they may go right over.
"When it's low like that with the later churning on the other side, anything that gets trapped in it, it just kind of rolls back and forth in that dam," Davis said.
He believes that may be what happened here.
"Very possible," he said. "We have a few a year, usually around one of these sills."
The only warning about the dam are some red signs that read "Danger." They are on each side of the river, but can be hard to spot. One sign appears overgrown by limbs and weeds while the other is faded.
"They are kind of hard to see. If you are not familiar with a body of water, try to do a little research on it," he said.
Davis believes the boaters were on a commercial boat that doesn't have a floatation device. That boat has not been located and he believes it's at the bottom of the river.
The search has wrapped up for the day because it is not safe to search while dark. It will begin again around 7 a.m. Wednesday.