2007-06-08; 19:59:59 EDT
Member Since
2002-09-17
Posts: 4946
LAKE JOCASSEE — A 3-year-old boy is still missing in Lake Jocassee in northern Oconee County after a sailboating incident. The Oconee County Rescue Squads and Dive Team joined the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officers at Lake Jocassee shortly after 2 p.m. today after a 10-foot fiberglass sailboat with a father and son overturned and the 3-year-old boy went missing. According to a DNR spokesman, the father and son were both wearing lifejackets while boating near the state park's main boat ramp in northern Oconee County. The spokesman said it is believed a fast-moving storm or high winds caused the boat to turn over, tossing the father and son into the lake. Randy Burdette with Oconee County Emergency Services said emergency services received the call about 1:50 this afternoon. He said authorities don't know how the sailboat sank, but believe the son's jacket caught in the rigging of the boat, presumably taking him under. The father was rescued. Rescue workers have not yet found the boat. They said the water is 100 feet deep with a slope that goes down to 400 feet. A crew from the Sheriff's Office in Charleston is on the way with sonar equipment, but rescue workers have called off the search because of approaching storms. The search is to restart at 8 a.m. Mr. Burdette says this is likely now a recovery effort. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.See the original archive post