Search and rescue effort on Eagle Lake turns into recovery after one body found
Published 8:46 pm Tuesday, June 30, 2020
- Photo contributed by Courtland Wells.
What was an active search and rescue on Eagle Lake for much of Tuesday has now turned into a recovery effort.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said the body of a man, in his 50s, was recovered Tuesday afternoon by law enforcement officials and the search continues for a woman, in her 60s.
Pace said authorities were notified Tuesday morning of a couple that reportedly went on the lake on a pontoon boat Monday and had not returned. He said the pontoon boat was located on the Australia Island side of Eagle Lake with no apparent damage.
Throughout the day, boats from the Eagle Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, the Vicksburg Fire Department and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks scoured the lake for any sign of the missing couple.
On Australia Island, teams with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office searched, but nothing was found. Volunteers from the Eagle Lake community also helped in the search, both on land and on the water.
The body of the man was located several hundred yards from the boat, Pace said, in an area between Maxwell’s Landing and Buck Chute.
Pace declined to provide any information on the identity of the individuals but did say the couple owned a weekend home on Eagle Lake.
He added the search for the missing woman will continue, but the volunteers will not be allowed to continue in the search at night.
“We are going to do all we can to provide closure to this family,” Pace said. “It’s a tragic situation. It appears that a fun afternoon on the lake has turned into something so terrible.”
Pace also said search teams from Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties have assisted in the search.