Body Found During Search for Missing Shrimp Boat Captain Whose Boat Sank During Storm

Abigail Adams
·2 min read
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Curtis Lee Cowling, the captain of the 63-foot boat named "Miss Jordi," was last seen around 11 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to police

Authorities located a body in a submerged boat while searching for a missing shrimp boat captain.

Divers with the Tampa Police Department recovered the body around 10:30 p.m. local time on Sunday after it was found “on board the submerged vessel,” according to police.

The 63-foot boat named “Miss Jordi” was found underwater on Saturday after multiple witnesses reported seeing the vessel submerged, the TPD said in a news release on Monday.

Curtis Lee Cowling, the captain of the boat, was last seen around 11 p.m. on Saturday.

Authorities have not publicly identified the victim found inside the boat. Additional information will be released after the victim’s next-of-kin is notified, according to the TPD, which did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Police said Cowling is believed to have been on board at the time the boat sank, according to ABC affiliate WFTS-TV.

Logan Lirette, who works at the shrimp dock, told NBC affiliate WFLA-TV that he had taken Cowling to the grocery store earlier that evening before dropping him back off at the boat.

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Dive teams were initially unable to enter the water “due to the amount [of] diesel fuel contaminating the water” after the boat became submerged.

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The United States Coast Guard is still conducting clean up efforts around the scene of the spill, which “was successfully contained” to the McKay Bay area, they added.

The Coast Guard believes this weekend’s storm that slammed into southeastern states this weekend may have caused the ship to sink, according to CBS affiliate WTSP.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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