PAYNE SPRINGS, Texas — A large multi-agency search ended Thursday night after authorities recovered the body of a missing boater following an incident on Cedar Creek Lake.
Emergency crews were first dispatched around 10:52 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, to the area of Peninsula Point Terrace after reports of a boating incident with one person still in the water.
Payne Springs Fire Rescue arrived to find that two occupants had made it safely to shore, but a third person remained unaccounted for.
Mutual aid was quickly requested from Long Cove Fire, Gun Barrel City Fire, and Trinidad Fire for marine response. A local resident also assisted early in the search by launching a pontoon boat, transporting firefighters and civilians onto the lake to begin surface search efforts.
Additional resources, including the JLJ Auto Recovery Drone Team, provided aerial support, while Texas Game Wardens responded with a boat to assist in the search. UT Health EMS evaluated the two individuals who reached shore, treating one for cold exposure. Both declined transport.
Search operations continued into the early morning hours and were suspended around 2:00 a.m., with the scene turned over to Texas Game Wardens.
On Thursday, April 2, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Texas Game Wardens located and recovered the missing boater.
Authorities have not released the identity of the individual, and no further information is available at this time.
