Empty boat found adrift in lake after man borrowed it and vanished, Louisiana cops say
An empty boat found floating in a Louisiana lake has prompted a search for a fisherman that has lasted longer than a day, officials said.
It was about 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, when officers from the Causeway Police Department spotted an abandoned boat drifting under the Causeway bridge in Lake Pontchartrain, police said. Officers contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office to help in the investigation, according to a new release from the sheriff’s office.
Deputies spoke to the owner of the vacant boat who told them that his friend, 44-year-old Billy Coile of Mandeville, borrowed the vessel to go fishing the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 7, the release said.
Sheriff’s office Marine deputies, members of the U.S. Coast Guard and officials from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries joined a search for Coile along the lake shore and near the bridge where the boat was found, according to the release.
The search ended at about 7 p.m. Sunday because of “safety reasons” and restarted Monday, Jan. 9, the release said.
Divers joined the search Jan. 9 and plan to scour the water for Coile, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office at 985-898-2338.
Mandeville is directly north across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Empty boat found adrift in lake after man borrowed it and vanished, Louisiana cops say."
