Missing woman recovered from Mississippi River in West Feliciana Parish

Published 12:21 pm Friday, June 2, 2023

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ST. FRANCISVILLE — Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office recovered the body of the missing St. Francisville woman from the Mississippi River on June 1 in West Feliciana Parish.

Rachel Hann, 38, of St. Francisville, had been missing after she was involved in a boating incident in the river at about 9 p.m. on May 30.

Hann was the passenger in a 16-foot aluminum vessel when the vessel hit a moving barge in the Mississippi River near St. Francisville.  Hann was ejected into the water and did not resurface.  The operator stayed in the boat and suffered severe injuries.  The operator was airlifted to a local trauma center for treatment of his injuries.

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Hann’s body was recovered around 3 p.m. today, June 1, 14 miles from where the incident took place at Fancy Point Towhead, an island in the Mississippi River. Fancy Point Towhead is located at the southern tip of West Feliciana Parish, Sheriff Brian Spillman said.

“We’re extremely grateful to all the agencies, groups and volunteers who assisted in helping bring closure to the family,” Spillman said. “We continue to keep them in our prayers and hope that this recovery can give them some peace that Rachal can now be returned to them.

LDWF enforcement agents will be the lead investigative agency for this fatal boating incident.  Hann’s body was turned over to the West Feliciana Parish Coroner’s Office. Neither occupant in the vessel was wearing a personal flotation device.

Louisiana had 29 boating fatalities in 2022 with 22 of those fatalities not wearing a personal flotation device. In 2023, there have been four other boating fatalities according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.