The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Enforcement Division successfully coordinated a search and rescue mission for two missing boaters on Nov. 18 in St. Helena Parish.

LDWF agents were notified about two overdue boaters in a bateau on the Tickfaw River around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 17.  Agents immediately responded to the area to conduct a search for the missing 79-year-old man and 54-year-old man.

Assisting LDWF with the search were the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office (LPSO), St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office and the St. Helena Parish Fire Department.

The LPSO utilized a helicopter to spot the missing boaters from the air around 3 a.m. on Nov. 18.  LDWF agents in a vessel were then able to retrieve the men from their bateau around 3:30 a.m. and bring them back to the launch where they were treated for mild hypothermia and released.  The men said they got lost in the river and then it got dark. 

The men said they launched from the Hwy. 10 bridge and planned on paddling down about seven miles south to the Hwy. 1034 bridge where they had people waiting for them.  Once the men didn’t arrive, the people waiting for them called for help.