Published: April 09, 2009 11:57 pm      

Man drowns at Okatibbee Lake

By Brian Livingston

blivingston@themeridianstar.com



A relaxing day fishing turned tragic Thursday afternoon when a Clarke County man apparently drowned at Okatibbee Lake.

The name of the victim, said to be 72 years old, is being withheld pending the notification of next of kin.

The body of the victim was recovered at about 5 p.m. by members of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They had only been dragging the immediate area around the boat landing for about 10 minutes when they came upon the body about 75 yards from shore.

David Sharp, director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency said at about 3:15 p.m., authorities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers informed him they had found a truck hooked with a boat trailer backed into the water at the ramp. A boat was adrift some distance from the shore and when employees with the corps retrieved the boat, no one was in it.

"The truck, with Clarke County tags, was still running when I arrived and some personal belongings were on the dock such as shoes and a wallet," said Sharp. "From all indications we believed the victim was in the process of pulling his boat out but as he backed the trailer in the water, he saw his boat had started to drift away with the blustery winds."

Authorities believe the victim jumped in the water to try and swim to his boat when he drowned.