ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: COROLLA, N.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Divers searched Tuesday for three hours in the near-freezing waters of Currituck Sound but couldn't find the body of a Chesapeake, Va., man still missing after a weekend boating accident.
Phillip Boedker, 51, was one of five people - three men and two boys - on a hunting trip that ended tragically Saturday when their boat developed engine troubles.
The lone survivor, Michael LaBounty, 29, of Moyock, helped in the search for Boedker's body Monday, when as many as 50 volunteers joined the boats, helicopters and planes.
The divers, from the Chesapeake Police Department, began their search about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday near where the boat sank. They concentrated on an area where dogs indicated they had picked up a scent Monday. The water temperature was 34 degrees when divers went in Tuesday.
The rescue effort got a helping hand from state wildlife and marine police, Carolla Fire and Rescue, and private boats. Commercial fisherman Ricky Holt of Poplar Branch used a deep-water net to comb the murky waters, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported. Other boats also dragged the sandy bottom, while helicopters and aircraft from the Navy and the Civil Air Patrol provided aerial surveillance.
The nets have hauled in shotguns belonging to the hunters, some decoys, a pair of binoculars and the console of the boat. But so far, there has been no sign of Boedker, who was scheduled to retire from his job at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard this month.
LaBounty was plucked from the sound's frigid waters about 9 p.m. Saturday, 14 hours after the boat capsized. He was treated for severe hypothermia at a hospital and released late Saturday.
The body of his son, Michael LaBounty Jr., 8, was found Sunday morning. The bodies of Johnny Melson, 33, and his son, Johnny Melson Jr., 6, were found Saturday night - one by the Coast Guard and one by family members conducting their own search.
Those involved in Tuesday's search included more than a dozen relatives and friends of Boedker, including his children, Philip Jr., 31, and daughter Kelly, 19. They gathered at the end of a nearby boat launch, watching and waiting.
``The waiting is hard,'' Kelly Boedker said. ``But prayers and the support of our family and friends have kept us going. That, and the knowledge that he's in heaven, and the knowledge that one day we're going to be there with him.''
The accident has taken its toll on the Boedker family.
``Every time my mother sees something about it on TV, she cries,'' Kelly Boedker said. ``Every time she reads about it in the paper, she cries. My aunt answers the phone at home now because Mom doesn't want to tell the story over and over. They're waiting by the phone for any news at all.''
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB