Oysterman missing; 1 rescued

WG

HED: Oysterman missing; 1 rescued

By DAVID ADLERSTEIN

653-8894 | @ApalachTimes

APALACHICOLA — One person was rescued but another is missing after an oystering vessel overturned in bad weather Monday.

Law enforcement officials from both the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) were searching Monday afternoon for the missing oysterman.

The FWC was notified at 8:36 a.m. EDT Monday that an oystering vessel had overturned during bad weather in the bay on the northwest side of Bird Island, west of the St. George Island bridge, according to FWC regional spokesman Stan Kirkland.

Two people were thrown in the water after the boat capsized. Eastpoint resident Billie Murray, 18, was picked up by another boat in the vicinity and taken to Weems Memorial Hospital. A man aboard the boat, reported by friends to be Brandon Wayne “Bruno” Creamer of Eastpoint, remained missing late Monday.

A man who witnessed the accident said Murray was able to stay afloat in the water, as Creamer clung to a pair of oyster tongs in the water.

“He grabbed hold of the tongs, he held on to those, but she looked back and tried to see where he was and she couldn’t see him,” said the man, who didn’t provide his name.

An oysterman aboard one of the first boats to arrive on scene after the accident said a “sudden thunderstorm … got really bad,” and the “waves picked up and water came over the side” of the boat.

Murray did not require hospitalization, Kirkland said. “We have not had a chance to interview her,” he said. “It was rough weather; they took water over the bow and the vessel rolled and then went down.

“We don’t know the age of the vessel. We were told it was a mullet type skiff even though they were apparently oystering,” Kirkland said. “It was apparently an older vessel. I don’t know if it was wooden, fiberglass, but it is on the bottom.

“They have located the vessel, they’ve buoyed that vessel and there are some other vessels, six or seven, of fishermen that are helping in the search,” he said.

In addition to FWC watercraft, the sheriff’s office has two vessels in the search, together with one from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. An FWC helicopter has assisted, depending on a break in the pelting rain that has raged intermittently all day.

The search “is basically from the site of the vessel out considerably from the vessel, to see if they can locate this missing person. Anywhere from a half-mile or further,” Kirkland said.

Kirkland said the bay was open for harvesting.

“Unless there is a closure that applies to oystering, they can oyster as they see fit,” he said Monday. “I would leave it up to fishermen about that. Everybody should pay attention to the weather.”