The body of a man lost when his workboat capsized in the Mississippi River near the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge on Dec. 30 has been identified as Jayme Swafford, 36, of Hammond.
Capt. Pat Yoes, spokesman for the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, said Swafford’s body was identified as the one found Jan. 24 in New Orleans.
The body was identified by a tattoo, according to family members. Harbor Police recovered the body floating near the intersection of South Carrollton and Leake Avenue in New Orleans, according to media reports.
Swafford has been missing since the morning of Dec. 30 when his workboat capsized near the Luling bridge, according to the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.
He was an employee of River Construction, a sister company of Magnolia Fleet, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
A U.S. Coast Guard received a call at 10:45 a.m. that three people were in the Mississippi River after the 24-foot workboat they were in overturned near mile marker 119, according to Petty Officer Laura Ratliff with the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans.
Good Samaritans at the scene helped rescue Jeffery Miller, 36, of Kiln, Miss., and Jeffery Jenkins, 34, of Prairieville, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Coast Guard dispatched a 29-foot response boat with search-and-rescue coordinators from the New Orleans station to the scene, which has continued the search into the afternoon. Officials had discontinued the search for Swafford By Jan. 8.
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