Courtesy of The Woodville Republican

WOODVILLE — The search for a man who fell out of a boat in the floodwaters of the Mississippi River ended Sunday morning with the recovery of his body, officials said.

The incident began on May 15 when two friends, Morris “Bo” Nettles, 30, and Quinton Lamar Barrow, 21, both of the Ft. Adams community of Wilkinson County, got into Nettles’ homemade 19-foot boat with 25 horsepower outboard motor to go run trot lines in the river backwater in western Wilkinson County, Wildlife Conservation Officer Gary Crum said.

The boat tipped to one side during a sharp turn and threw both men into the water.

Crum said Nettles was able to make it safely to the boat, but saw his companion sink below the surface of the water.

A search for Barrow started Wednesday afternoon and continued daily through Saturday afternoon.

“We knew we were close to the area where Barrow drowned because we recovered one of his boots one day and the other one the next day,” Crum said.

At approximately 7:15 a.m. Sunday morning, Ft. Adams residents Wiley and Wanda Ladner went to the search area and discovered Barrow’s body floating nearby.

Wilkinson County Coroner Travis Sharp said he had sent Barrow’s body to Jackson for an autopsy, and that test results showed Barrow’s cause of death was accidental drowning.