The wife of one of the missing boaters on Lake Marion spoke to News 2 about the search. The Berkeley County Rescue Squad is searching for missing boaters on Lake Marion in the Cross area of the county.
RELEASE
Saturday, Feb. 11, two fishermen launched their boat in the Diversion Canal in Cross on a fishing trip in Lake Marion.
The plans were to return Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. They had camping equipment aboard.
When they did not return Sunday around noon, family members notified the authorities.
A search was launched shortly after noon that included boats from the Berkeley County Rescue Squad, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Natural Resources.
Also used in the search was a DNR fixed wing aircraft and a helicopter from a local volunteer.
At 2:53 p.m. the DNR airplane spotted the overturned boat several hundred yards from the mouth of the canal. After a search of the area, the fishermen were not found. The search will resume on Monday morning.
The men have been identified as 33-year-old Douglas Smith of Ravenel and 28-year-old Michael Muse of St. Stephen. They were in a 14 foot aluminum boat. The accident is under investigation by DNR.
The wife of Michael Muse says he was going fishing in Lake Marion even though they usually fish in lake Moultrie because of the recent report in the news about a 140 pound catfish. She says the men wanted to find one of those big fish. She spent Monday on an island in Lake Marion with the couple's dog, "woman." They are hoping woman can help them find her husband. She says Michael loves Woman, and she loves him, “this dog is obsessed with him. Tells him how it's gonna be, what it's gonna be. That's why we named her woman. And all I have to say is go find daddy so I'm gonna get put on an island with her and just start searching the island on foot.”
Berkeley County Rescue Squad Director Bill Salisbury says weather may have played a role in the accident, “We had some terrible winds Saturday. Saturday night I think we had gale force winds. That lake can get extremely rough and dangerous. I feel like they were in a 14 foot aluminum boat, and I feel like they probably got in some trouble in some rough water.” He tells News 2 they will continue to ensure someone is doing something to find the men every day until the men are found.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement