The second drowning victim, an 18-year-old Gramercy woman, of a June 20 boating accident was recovered in Lake Palourde today (June 23), the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported.
The body of Theresa Hidalgo, who was in a 16-foot bass boat when she and a second victim fell overboard on Sunday, was discovered near the west shore in Lake Palourde, LDWF said.
Recovered yesterday was 39-year-old Michael St. Amant of Donaldsonville was recovered yesterday, the agency reported.
According to Andrea St. Amant, Michael St. Amant’s wife, the two victims fell overboard from Michael’s boat around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Andrea said that she did not know how to operate the boat and did not have cell phone service. After drifting for a few minutes, Andrea said she was able to flag down some nearby jet skiers who then were able to get to an area with cell phone service to call 911.
LDWF Enforcement Division agents received the 911 call and arrived on the scene within minutes and began searching for the missing boaters until nightfall. Other agencies that participated in the search for Michael and Theresa were the St. Mary Parish and St. Martin Parish sheriffs offices, the Patterson Police Department, Stephensville Fire Department and Morgan City Fire Department.
