Bodies of missing boaters recovered from Lake Maumelle after search

Authorities search Lake Maumelle Thursday for a boater who went missing Wednesday.
Authorities search Lake Maumelle Thursday for a boater who went missing Wednesday.

The bodies of two men thrown from a boat on Lake Maumelle were recovered Thursday after a search of the area, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Keith Stephens, spokesman for the commission, said Joseph Greenway, 29, of Paron and Anthony Mayfield, 27, of Perryville were pulled from the lake about 2:30 p.m., one day after search efforts began.

Stephens said a Grant County dive team found the bodies east of the Arkansas 10 bridge in the lake, with sonar scanning provided by the commission. The Pulaski County sheriff's office was also on scene.

Stephens said their bodies have been sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock to determine the cause of death. Neither was wearing a life jacket, he said.

The Pulaski County sheriff's office responded about 4:35 p.m. Wednesday to a boating accident near Arkansas 10 and Arkansas 113, according to a report.

At the scene, a green boat was observed unoccupied and "going in circles" east of the Arkansas 10 bridge on the lake, authorities said.

One witness said she saw an individual on the surface for about two to three minutes before he went below the surface. Another said he witnessed an individual flying out of the boat after it traveled east of the bridge.

A search of the area continued until shortly before 10 p.m., according to the sheriff's office. Stephens said his agency took the lead on search efforts about 8 a.m. Thursday.

Thursday morning, three boats with sonar were searching in the area along the western end of Lake Maumelle east of the Arkansas 10 bridge, Stephens said.

A vehicle was located at the boat ramp west of the junction of Arkansas 10 and Arkansas 113, according to the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office said vehicle registration matched that of a Paron resident. It was not clear Thursday afternoon whether that vehicle belonged to Greenway.

The boating deaths were the first and second reported in Arkansas so far this year, Stephens said.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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