DANDRIDGE (WATE) - After days of searching, rescue crews have now recovered the bodies of 2 boaters who went missing on Douglas Lake.
TWRA says James Brannan, 53, Illinois, and John Perez, 39, Indiana, disappeared while tubing Thursday night. Others in a rental boat say they lost sight of the men just before 7 p.m.
Family members say Brannon and Perez were visiting East Tennessee while on vacation.
More than a dozen volunteers from Jefferson County, Sevier County, Greene County, and Grainger County worked together to search the nearly 15-acre area.
The men's bodies were recovered Saturday afternoon.
The crews used a combination of sonar and dragging to search for the victims. "We tie the boats together and do a wide sweep at one time to try to cover more area in less time," Walker said.
The woman driving the boat was related to one of the men. Officials say she tried to help them, but by the time she turned the boat around, they had gone under the water.
Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency official Matt Cameron said the men were not wearing life jackets and that could have made all the difference.
"Had they had their life jackets on, they could have been injured. We can't say that they wouldn't have been, but they still would have been on the surface of the water and a rescue would have been very likely," he explained.
The search resumed Friday morning.
(Source: Family) James Brannan, 53, drowned while tubing at Douglas Lake.
