Search underway for missing boater on the Tombigbee River
Damond E. Driggers, 48, was operating a 17-foot Aluminum Excel duck boat at 12 a.m. Sunday when he went overboard, fell into the water, and never resurfaced.
Mason Reed 
A search operation is underway in Sumpter County following a marine incident on the Tombigbee River that has left a southwest Alabama man missing.
Incident Details
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) identified the missing individual as 48-year-old Damond E. Driggers of Millry. According to ALEA Capt. Jeremy Burkett, the incident occurred at 12 a.m. Sunday when Driggers was operating a 17-foot Aluminum Excel duck boat near Gainesville. Driggers reportedly went overboard and failed to resurface.
Authorities noted that Driggers was not wearing a personal flotation device and was not utilizing an emergency cutoff switch at the time of the accident.
Search and Recovery Efforts
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, along with troopers from the ALEA Marine Patrol Division, immediately launched search operations. While those efforts were suspended for the night, officials confirmed that the search will resume on Monday morning.
Weekend Water Safety
This incident marks one of two separate boat-related disappearances reported across Alabama over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, 61-year-old Lowell L. Hinton fell off a pontoon boat on a north Alabama lake and did not resurface. Search crews are expected to continue the effort to locate Hinton on Monday as well.
