Authorities ID Man Missing After Boating Accident

Rescuers with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife searched Wednesday for a missing boater who may have drowned overnight after a Jon boat he reportedly was operating was sucked into a spillway at County Road 621.

Listed as missing is James Carter Jr., 61, of Lake Placid. He had not been found as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to Fish and Wildlife officials.

Three Lake Placid men were on Istokpoga at about 8 p.m. when the boat drifted too close to the lock. The men tried dropping anchors which did not hold, then tried starting the boat's motor, which did not start. The boat was pulled by the current into the 621 spill.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman JoAnne Adams said Wednesday investigators spoke with the two occupants who made it who were tossed out of the boat after it went into the 621 spill.

Two of the men, Sean Mathis, 38, and Calvin Hawthorne, 26, were able to pull themselves out of the water by grabbing onto a boom, and made it safely to shore.

She said Mathis reportedly got onto the capsized boat and called for Hawthorne. He began kicking the boat toward Hawthorne until Hawthorne was able to climb on board. They floated until they were able to grab the boom. Neither of the men reportedly saw or heard Carter Jr. after the boat overturned, Adams said.
"Sean knew Calvin, who knew Carter," she said.

FWC had two boats and the sheriff's office had an airboat out searching. Fish and Wildlife also sent a helicopter for the search, Adams said.

The boat was found 2.7 miles downstream from the spillway, she said, and officers were searching for the missing man there.

They were taken by Highlands County Emergency Medical Services to an area hospital for treatment, according to Interim EMS Director Steve Coltharp.

A woman who was fishing on the shore saw the accident and called 911, Adams said.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office incident report shows the first call was received at about 8:34 p.m.

The lock spillway had been closed as of 10:10 p.m. Tuesday. Sheriff's Capt. Paul Blackman said the lock would be reopened at about 2:30 p.m., by order of the South Florida Water Management District officials.

Adams said the 621 Spill is closed for fishing until further notice.
FWC trappers were removing alligators from the canal as they spotted them, Adams said, for safety reasons in case the missing man is found.