MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The 18-day search for three missing boaters from Obion County has resulted in the recovery of three bodies from the Tennessee River.
TWRA said 43-year old Kenneth Driver and two 15-year-old boys were last seen in a picture taken above the Pickwick Dam the morning of February 22 at a fishing tournament. Authorities believe all three of thems and the 20-foot bass boat went through the floodgates of the dam.
The third body was discovered around 7:00 a.m. in the Tennessee River near Shiloh National Military Park on the Tennessee River. It was the same general area where the two previous bodies were found.
The second body was recovered Wednesday within a mile of the first missing boater recovered Tuesday, approximately nine miles from the dam.
According to TWRA, the bodies have been sent to the medical examiner’s office in Memphis for an autopsy and identification.
Officials with Obion County Schools said the three missing boaters missed the tournament weigh-in but organizers believed they left early. They weren’t reported missing until around 9 p.m. Sunday.
Just days after the search began, TWRA found 20-foot bass boat belonging to the boaters and transitioned its rescue operation to a recovery operation.
Multiple agencies along with TWRA have been focusing their search efforts on a 14-mile stretch of the Tennessee River just a few miles past the Pickwick Dam where the boat was found.
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