Ouachita County Sheriff's deputies have recovered the remains of Mark Merritt, who had been missing for several weeks after disappearing in the Ouachita River, Sheriff David Norwood announced Tuesday afternoon.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, " Norwood stated.
Merritt had been missing since April 30, when his wife reported that they had been thrown from their boat into the river after striking something underwater.
His wife told police she swam to the shore and called 911 immediately.
Authorities have been combing the river since then and repeatedly faced flooding conditions during the search.
This is the third drowning in the Ouachita River this year.
John David Robertson had been reported missing on Tuesday, Jan. 18, along with his wife Sarah.
The person who reported the incident said that at around 4 p.m. that day, while fishing, John David Robertson approached him and said "people were out to kill" him, Norwood said at the time.
Norwood said the man who reported it said he saw Robertson get into a boat and subsequently fall out of it in the middle of the river. The man said he retrieved the boat but never saw Robertson resurface, Norwood said.
Deputies had been searching the area daily with sonar, but failed to recover the body until it resurfaced around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15, near the area where Robertson was reported to have fallen in.
On March 28, The Camden Police and Fire departments responded around 5 p.m. to a report of a "person in distress" in the Ouachita River, near the River Walk. Upon arrival, officers saw one person "in obvious distress" about 100 yards from the river bank.
The CFD launched rescue boats immediately, and with help from local residents, began searching the river.
A team of 12 divers utilizing sonar (sound navigation and ranging) from the Miller County Office of Emergency Management of Miller County also joined in the search.
Cooper Daugherty, the drowning victim, was recovered April 2.