WATERPROOF — A Waterproof man is dead after the swollen Mississippi River apparently swept his horse out from under him.

Tensas Parish authorities found the drowned body of Zachary Washington, 30, at approximately 6:40 p.m. Sunday, Tensas Parish Sheriff Ricky Jones said.

The sheriff’s office first received a 911 call about Washington at approximately 12:51 p.m. Saturday.

Washington was riding his horse near the Goldman grain elevator, where the river has submerged the road, and tried to ride up a ramp leading to the grain elevator’s tanks.

The water’s current caused the horse to lose its footing and swept it into the flow of the water, Jones said.

Washington was either thrown or jumped off the horse, Jones said.

“Witnesses said he bobbed a couple of times and went down and they lost sight of him,” Jones said.

Ropes on the horse were entangled in a nearby tree, and the horse was removed from the river unharmed.

The Tensas Parish Sheriff’s Office, Tensas Fire District, the Waterproof Police Department and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries participated in the recovery effort.