UPDATE
by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor
The body of missing fisherman Curtis Anders was recovered 17 miles downriver from the Estiffanulga Boat Land near the Calhoun County/Gulf County line at 8:24 a.m. Central Time Saturday, according to Don Minchew of Wewahitchka Search and Rescue.
Anders was found on the water at mile marker 46.5, 4.1 miles north of where Florida River goes into the Apalachicola River at Porter Lake, Minchew said.
“We knew we had to stay downstream of him,” Minchew said. “I was sending boats all the way down to Mile Marker 11.”
Divers from Washington County were working the water just two miles south when Wewahitchka Search and Rescue boats found him this morning.
He said the rising river level made things difficult in the 13-day search but, “We did what we needed to do. We covered the whole river.”
The 126-member volunteer group worked hand in hand with the Liberty County Search and Rescue team as well as surrounding agencies in what Minchew called “a massive effort.”
Minchew said there was never any question of how long they would continue the search, explaining, “We come off the river when the family goes home.”