MELBOURNE — A search and rescue operation continued overnight and today as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and several other agencies scoured the waters of Melbourne’s Lake Washington Park for a man who reportedly fell overboard from an airboat.
The search continued through the night as FWC officers, along with deputies from the Brevard and Orange County sheriff’s offices, used lights, drones and sonar to find the unidentified 52-year-old Brevard County man, officials said.
“We’re still actively looking for him. At this point, we don’t know the circumstances of what happened or how he went overboard,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesman Chad Weber said Sunday.
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The incident happened around 4 p.m. Saturday when the man and at least one other person went on a private recreational tour of Lake Washington, an area popular with boaters and fishermen. After the man went overboard, the other person in the airboat called authorities for help, Weber said.
The lake, which sits in a 55-acre recreational area like other Florida waters, has alligators. National Weather Service officials say storm cells with isolated showers may develop later this afternoon in the area of western Brevard County where the park is located.
JD Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Airboater missing in Melbourne’s Lake Washington waters
