Authorities find missing fisherman in Stone pond

Published 2:49 pm Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Authorities have found the body of an 82-year-old Gulfport fisherman who went missing from a boat in a private pond in Stone County.

Search teams said they found the body of George Ervin Estes Jr.  Sunday.

Wiggins Fire Chief Jody Hatten had said the search was called off around midnight Saturday then resumed at daybreak Sunday with dogs and a dive team.

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Hatten said another man was mowing grass Saturday around the pond when he noticed something was wrong. He saw the man fishing, but later looked back and saw the boat was empty.

Hatten said Estes was riding in a 12-foot aluminum boat and the pond. His body was found in eight feet of water.

Estes’ cause of death is still unknown.