KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities have recovered the body of a fisherman who went under in the Wateree River on Thursday afternoon.
Crews resumed their search around 7:30 a.m. on Friday and announced around 8:10 a.m. that the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources had found the victim's body. Authorities said the body of 38-year-old Antonio Hernandez was found in the vicinity of the Tail Race boat ramp, where the search initially began.
Just after 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Kershaw County Emergency Services received a call that a man had disappeared in the Wateree River while trying to swim to his friends. Those same friends waited on the banks of the river while over a dozen units from various departments responded to the scene at the Tail Race boat ramp.
The search included crews from Camden Fire, Lugoff Fire, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, Kershaw County Fire, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
While divers searched the immediate area where the man disappeared, rescue teams manned boats at several points along the river. Heavy rain and lightning descended upon the search area just before 7 p.m. to make matters more difficult.
Kershaw County Emergency Services Director Will Glover said the stormy weather didn’t help the search effort.
“When we have divers in the water, especially in a river where there’s current moving at all times, we have to watch the weather conditions. So once you get wind, it affects the boat’s movement," Glover said. "Lightning, of course; we want to pull people off of the water if there’s any lightning around. And then the torrential downpour of rain obscures your vision. So, if we have divers in the water, we have to be able to monitor their bubbles at all time to make sure they’re moving and are okay.”
Glover said that visibility in certain parts of the river is near zero.
Crews worked well into the evening, deploying sonar scanners to search for the missing man after sunset. Teams suspended their search for the evening shortly after 10:30 p.m. and resumed after daybreak on Friday.