Search finds ‘victim’ at friend’s home

Capsized boat leads officials to fear the worst          

           

BY MEGAN NICHOLS      7/ 5/ 2006

Anderson Independent- Mail

Emergency workers spent nearly four

hours Monday searching for the missing oc-

cupants of a capsized boat on Hartwell Lake.

   It turned out they weren’t missing at all.

   Susan Griffin, spokeswoman for the An-

derson County Sheriff’s Office said the own-  

started out by searching the islands from about seven boats, Mr. Brissey said. The Sher-

iff’s Office’s helicopter also was used, he said.           

   Boats and a couple of dozen emergency workers started trickling in to River Forks  Recreation Area, where the search was

Based, at about 3 p.m. Some seemed amused,

while others seemed mildly irritated that

 

Search crews from the Anderson Fire Department and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources return after looking for the owner of a capsized boat on Hartwell Lake in Anderson County around 3 p.m. Monday. Department of Natural Resources, Public Safety, South Carolina state park rangers, Anderson County fire and South Carolina troopers assisted in the search for the missing man.

er of the boat, whose name is not being re-leased simply went with his companion to a

friend’s home after the boat capsized.

    She said he had no idea that a search par-

ty had been organized for him.

    Ike Brissey, with the Anderson County

Emergency Services Division, said that the

search started at around 11a m after the cap-

sized boat was found. Workers from area agencies, including the Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Anderson County Fire Department, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Anderson County Emergency Services Division   

they spent much of the day searching for a man

 who was not lost.

    Ms. Griffin said a search of this size would cost agencies big bucks.

    “Just to get that thing rolling is not cheap,” said Ms. Griffin, gesturing to the Anderson County Unified Mobile Command Center where officials had been planning the search.

    But, officials said, these things do happen.

    “At the end of the day, we’re just glad he’s not hurt,” Mr. Brissey said.

 

 

Megan Nichols can be reached at (800) 859-6397 or by e-mail at nicholsmg@IndependentMail.com