Authorities were searching Saturday for an Arkansas sheriff's deputy who disappeared after diving into Lake Ouachita while boating Friday night.
The Montgomery County sheriff's office said in a statement that it was alerted shortly before 10 p.m. Friday that two boaters dove into the water north of Mountain Harbor Resort, and one of them disappeared while trying to return to their drifting party barge.
"When they came up, the boat was drifting north, away from the two men," the sheriff's office wrote in a news release.
One man disappeared and the other made it to shore, where he was rescued by a passing boat.
The missing man was identified by authorities as Keith Wright, who works as a deputy with the Grant County sheriff's office and previously was a Pine Bluff police officer and a Pulaski County sheriff's deputy.
Officials said Wright has worked in various roles in law enforcement and has taught diving lessons.
Montgomery County deputies along with officials from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Arkansas State Police, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies were searching the area Saturday.
The party barge was found with its engine running at the back of a cove, where authorities believe it was carried by the wind.
Metro on 07/21/2019