GEORGETOWN, S.C. — A spokesperson with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) reports the bodies of the men reported overdue and missing on the Sampit River in Georgetown have been recovered after two days of continuous searching by vessels and aircraft from the U.S. Coast Guard, SCDNR and the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO).
According to SCDNR, the body of Marquis Mickel was found by an SCDNR boat crew at approximately 4:25 p.m. on Monday, less than a quarter mile upstream from the Carroll A. Campbell Boat Landing, where the two missing boaters departed from on Saturday, Sept. 26. Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office deputies assisted with the recovery.
Around 11:25 a.m. Tuesday, the body of Kinsley Johnson was spotted on the surface of the water by members of a S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) boat and dive team crew, as they were preparing to dive on the boat that the two men were in. The sunken vessel was located using sonar equipment, approximately 150 yards downstream of the Highway 17 bridge.
Neither man was wearing a life jacket when recovered.
The families have been notified and the bodies transferred to the custody of the Georgetown County Coroner.
The Georgetown County Corner has requested autopsies on both to be performed at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, according to the GCSO.
The search for the two missing boaters began Sunday evening when family members notified emergency responders that they were overdue from a trip on the Sampit River. Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Charleston Sector, the SCDNR, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies search continuously on the surface of Winyah Bay and the Sampit River and via aircraft until both men were located.
“Our officers and those from the other agencies are working as hard as we can and hope to be able to provide a resolution this situation for these men’s families,” said SCDNR Lt. Angus MacBride, who has been coordinating the agency’s efforts with USCG and the Sheriff’s Office since Sunday evening.
