Published: March 22, 2008 08:32 pm         

Body of local man recovered

PASS CHRISTIAN — Authorities have found the body of a Picayune fisherman who had been missing since a boating accident last week.

Department of Marine Resource officers found the body of Lee McWilliams, Jr. Friday in the Pass Christian Harbor.

McWilliams was reported missing last Saturday after a boating accident in the Bay of St. Louis.

A press release from the Department of Marine Resources Marine Patrol states that the body was found at 11:23 a.m. Friday by officers Tommy Jennings and Matt Kasovich while they were on patrol. Pass Christian harbor patrol helped the officers recover the body.

On March 15, four Picayune residents went on a fishing trip and were met with high winds, which forced water into the boat before a wave overturned it. Three of the four passengers in the 16 foot boat were rescued from the Bay of St. Louis, but Lee McWilliams Jr. had been missing ever since. He was last seen hanging on to an ice chest, witnesses reported.