The Missouri State Highway Patrol said two fishermen were found dead in Ozark County after a boat they were in capsized Friday morning near the Tecumseh bridge.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 32-year-old Michael Dunlap, of Norwood, and 60-year-old Robert Smith, of Drury, drowned after their boat capsized around 3:30 a.m. Friday near the Tecumseh Access in Ozark County.
In a news release, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were initially dispatched to the area Friday morning for a report of a boat that had capsized with two individuals missing in the water.
When deputies arrived, they met with a man who had located the only survivor of the incident, 38-year-old Shannon Newton, of Dora, on a sandbar. Newton advised deputies that he, Dunlap and Smith were in the boat when it capsized, and he last saw Dunlap and Smith downriver from his location.
The Ozark County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies searched the area and the water for the two men.
Search teams located one man’s body Friday night in the water and recovered the other man’s body in Northfork Lake near the Tecumseh Lake Access around noon Saturday.
According to authorities, the boat capsized around 3:30 a.m., Friday, after the boat hit an object, overturned and sank into the water.
All three men were ejected from the boat, according to authorities.
Dunlap and Smith were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ozark County Coroner.
