Missing boater found dead in Lake Buchanan
Lake Buchanan. File photo
The body of a boater was recovered on the morning of Monday, June 15, in Lake Buchanan following a multi-day search operation that began on Saturday, June 13.
According to statements provided to DailyTrib from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas game wardens responded to a request from the Llano County Sheriff’s Office at around 9 p.m. on Saturday concerning a missing fisherman near Shaw Island on Lake Buchanan.
The investigating wardens determined that the man, identified as Jay Staats, 55, of Buchanan Dam, had gone missing after dropping off a friend at a nearby boat ramp.
Staats was meant to meet his wife at Shaw Island, but after considerable time passed without his appearance, she and one of Staats’ friends boarded a separate watercraft to search for him. The two reportedly found Staats’ boat, beached, running, and in gear, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Search efforts from multiple local agencies began shortly after his boat was discovered Saturday night and continued until his body was found on Monday morning in the water near the shore by personnel from the Lower Colorado River Authority.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Staats family and their friends during this difficult time,” reads the statement sent to DailyTrib. “Texas Game Wardens urge everyone on the water to wear a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.”