Body recovered after boat goes missing

A fisherman on Monday morning spotted the body of a New Iberia man missing more than a week after his boat left Cypremort Point.

Family members identified the deceased as Roland Thibodaux, 62, said Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Wendell Raborn.

Thibodaux left Cypremort Point headed for Marsh Island in his 17-foot Boston Whaler on Nov. 7, according to a Coast Guard press release. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office notified the Coast Guard that the boat was overdue at Marsh Island at 8:35 p.m. that night.

A three-day search covering more than 1,500 square miles turned up the boat but not Thibodaux.

Then, at about 9:30 a.m. Monday, the fisherman spotted Thibodaux's body in the water about a mile from Cypremort Point, Raborn said. The body was recovered by the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office Marine Unit.

The search included two Coast Guard helicopters, two vessels from the Coast Guard's Morgan City unit, deputies from St. Mary and Iberia, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.