News Briefs From Across The State
By Monica Land
Family members found the body
The body of a man who drowned two weeks ago in the Chunky River has been found.
David Sharp, the executive director of Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency, said members of Marcus L. Smith’s family found his body about 10:15 a.m. Saturday about half a mile from where Smith initially went under.
Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler said the body has been sent to Jackson for an autopsy.
Authorities say Smith, 56, was in a canoe with two other men on Jan. 19 when it turned over into the swift, cold waters of the Chunky River near Stuckey Bridge.
The two survivors were able to reach the bank but Smith was swept downriver.
2 dead in George County accident
The George County Sheriff’s Department said two people died in a traffic accident Friday Feb. 1.
George County Deputy Coroner Stacey Dungan said Jonathan Ford, 37, of the Benndale community, and Herman Howard, 51, of the Howell community, were pronounced dead at the scene on Feb. 1.
Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Shonna Pierce said deputies responded to a 911 call about 7 p.m. and found the wreckage on a county road in the southeast corner of George County.
Pierce said two other people, who were not identified, were injured and taken to local hospitals. The severity of their condition was not disclosed.
The sheriff’s department is working with the Mississippi Highway Patrol on the investigation.
300 pounds of illegal catch seized from fisherman
Mississippi marine officers seized 11 gill nets – a total of 1,310 feet – and 333 pounds of illegal red drum from a man who was removing fish from his nets off in the Ansley community in Hancock County.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources said Herman William Rieux of Hancock County was cited Feb. 1 on 11 counts of possession of non-biodegradable gill nets, 11 counts of possession of untagged gill nets, two counts of possession of commercially taken undersized red drum, one count for not having a commercial gill net license and one count of possession of bull red drum exceeding the daily bag limit.
Each count is punishable by a fine of $100 to $500.
The Marine Patrol acted on a tip that Rieux was illegally fishing.
Crash claims Booneville man in Tippah County
A 20-year-old Booneville man died early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle accident in Tippah County.
Tippah County Coroner Chad Bateman said Sam Edge was the victim in the accident which occurred around 8:30 a.m. Feb. 2 along Mississippi Highway 4 near the Prentiss/Tippah county line.
Bateman says it appeared Edge left the road, hit a tree and spun his vehicle into an 18-wheeler parked in someone’s driveway.
The accident remains under investigation.
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