HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, TEMA, and Hardin County Fire Department will be reducing the workforce in search and recovery operations for the three missing boaters near Pickwick Dam.
The reduction will begin Monday morning with the anticipation of heavy rain and rising waters, according to a TWRA Facebook post.
Local resources will continue searching, and volunteers may assist but will not be required to check-in.
A preliminary investigation indicated a Stratos boat containing 43-year-old Kenneth Driver and two 15-year-old boys was last seen in a picture taken above the dam on Saturday, February 22, between 8 and 8:30 a.m.
The three occupants and the 20-foot bass boat went through the floodgates at Pickwick Dam.
The three people were reported missing after the fishermen failed to return from an Obion County club bass tournament.
Search efforts are concentrated on a 14-mile stretch the Tennessee River for the missing boaters.
Over the last seven days, search crews have conducted surface and sonar scans in attempts to locate the missing boaters on the Tennessee River, according to TWRA. Multiple aviation units have assisted in air searches along the river banks.
TWRA, Hardin County Fire Department, Sumner County EMA, Decatur County Rescue, Hardin County Sheriff’s Department, Henry County Rescue, Henderson County Rescue, and EMA, Lake County Sheriff, Humphreys County Sheriff, Carroll County Rescue, Chester County Rescue, Samburg Fire Department, Finger Fire Department, Obion County Rescue, Fayette County Sheriff’s, TEMA, TVA Police, and Pickwick State Park staff, Jackson Police Department Aviation Unit, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Helicopter have assisted with searching for the missing boaters on the Tennessee River near Pickwick Dam.