Search continues for missing boater in New Madrid County

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Multiple agencies are continuing their search for a man whose empty boat was found floating in the Mississippi River.

At approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday, the New Madrid Police Department received a call from the New Madrid Harbor Service about an empty fishing boat floating in the Mississippi River about two miles south of New Madrid. At approximately the same time, authorities were notified by a game warden with the Missouri Department of Conservation of a truck and boat trailer sitting at the bottom of the New Madrid Bend boat ramp.

According to New Madrid Police Chief Joey Higgerson, officers were able to match the vehicle registration and the boat registration to determine both belonged to Bruce Shockley of East Prairie.

“From a preliminary investigation, we feel the accident happened while either loading or unloading boat so we are concentrating our search efforts in the shoot of New Madrid bend and downstream from there,” Higgerson said.

Members of the New Madrid Fire Department, New Madrid Police Department, New Madrid County Sheriff’s Department, Missouri Department of Conservation, New Madrid County Emergency Management, New Madrid County Ambulance District, Missouri State Highway Patrol Region E, Homeland Security Response Team and Lake County, Tennessee, Rescue Squad began searching at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. They continued their efforts until midnight Tuesday and resumed again at approximately 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Higgerson said in addition to searching by boat and helicopter, they have used dragging implements and sonar in an attempt to locate Shockley. He estimated that approximately 30 emergency personnel are involved in the search, which is being coordinated from the New Madrid Bend boat ramp. The ramp has been closed to all other boaters.

A number of civilian boaters have also joined the search. Higgerson said the additional assistance is greatly appreciated, however he asked that civilians use the city of New Madrid’s boat ramp and to wear life jackets.

The search will continue during the daylight hours for the next several days in an attempt to locate the victim.

“We are going to saturate the area, rotate people in and out to keep people fresh and keep on going,” Higgerson said.