Authorities suspend search for man missing since boat capsized
Published 11:53 am Tuesday, January 5, 2016
HAHNVILLE — Authorities suspended their search Tuesday for a man missing since last week after the boat he was in capsized in the Mississippi River.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Captain Patrick Yoes said the United States Coast Guard suspended its search last week and local authorities discontinued theirs Tuesday morning.
Sheriff’s Office deputies responded at approximately 11:55 a.m. Dec. 30 to a call from Magnolia Fleet officials stating one of their small workboats capsized with three individuals on board.
Two of the victims were rescued, but the third victim identified by the Sheriff’s Office as 36-year-old James Swafford of Hammond, is still missing.
Yoes said the boat overturned on the East Bank side of the river, near the base of Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge.
A number of boats remain in the area, and all have been made aware and are on the lookout for Swafford, according to authorities.
Yoes said foul play is not suspected, but a cause for the capsizing has not been determined. The Coast Guard is handling the investigation.
Yoes said he is unaware of what type of business Magnolia Fleet is and what the crewmembers were doing before their boat capsized.