PLAQUEMINE, La. (AP) - Search and rescue crews were looking for a man who slipped and fell into a river while stepping from a houseboat to his own vessel, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Monday.
Wildlife agents and Iberville Parish sheriff’s deputies began searching for 61-year-old James Haley of Denham Springs about 10:30 p.m. Friday on the Upper Grand River. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and volunteers with their own vessels also are searching, enforcement division spokesman Gabe Giffin said.
Giffin said a friend of Haley’s told investigators that he was holding a rope to keep the boats snugged together as Haley stepped from one to the other. He says Haley surfaced two times after he slipped and fell but could not swim and was not wearing a life vest.
Search crews looked for Haley until 3 a.m. Saturday and have continued the search each day since.
Haley’s friend told investigators that he paddled the boat out but could not find Haley.
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