UPDATE ON THE “Tragedy on Pickwick Lake” STORY HERE ON FEBRUARY 26, 2020
HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn.— The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has recovered the body of a missing boater from the Tennessee River. Search crews recovered the body of a John Doe around 4:30 p.m. this afternoon around Shiloh National Military Park on the Tennessee River. The body has been sent to the Medical Examiner’s office in Memphis for an autopsy and identification.
Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee River where a boat and three people went thru and over an open floodgate. TWRA photo
Over the last 17 days, search crews have conducted surface and sonar scans in attempts to locate the missing boaters on the Tennessee River. Multiple aviation units have assisted in air searches along the river banks. TWRA, Hardin County Fire Department, Sumner County EMA, Decatur County Rescue, Hardin County Sheriff’s Department, Henry County Rescue, Henderson County Rescue, and EMA, Lake County Sheriff, Humphreys County Sheriff, Carroll County Rescue, Chester County Rescue, Samburg Fire Department, Finger Fire Department, Obion County Rescue, Fayette County Sheriff’s, TEMA, TVA Police, and Pickwick State Park staff, Jackson Police Department Aviation Unit, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Helicopter have assisted with searching for the missing boaters on the Tennessee River near Pickwick Dam.
The preliminary investigation indicates that a Stratos boat containing 43-year old Kenneth Driver and two 15-year-old boys was last seen in a picture taken above the dam on Saturday, February 22, between 8 and 8:30 a.m. The three occupants and the 20-foot bass boat went through the floodgates at Pickwick Dam. Search efforts were concentrated on a 14 mile stretch the Tennessee River for the missing boaters. The three people were reported missing on Sunday, February 23, after the fishermen failed to return from an Obion County club bass tournament.
