Emergency workers recently logged over 1,300 man-hours searching for and locating the body of a missing Gray fisherman in Laurel Lake so that his family could have some degree of closure.
Six days after he went missing in Laurel Lake near City Dam, emergency crews were finally able to at least give John Michael Myrick’s family closure Friday afternoon.
After 1,382.4 man-hours of searching, emergency crews located Myrick’s body about 3:15 p.m. Friday about 40 feet from City Dam on the Lynn Camp Creek side, said Laurel and Whitley County Emergency Management Director Jerry Rains.
Rains said that the body was located with sonar, then the London-Laurel County Rescue Squad sent down a remote operated vehicle (ROV), or underwater drone if you will, which brought the body to the surface. At that point, divers entered the water and brought the body to the bank.
Rains said that it was a relief for Myrick’s family, who can now start the recovery process.
“It is a relief for us too. We just hate that it took so long, but Mother Nature is on her own time frame,” Rains said adding that Thursday’s storm and hail delayed search efforts by about three to four hours.
Rains estimated that about 30 searchers per day took part in the search effort. Myrick, 27, was laid to rest during funeral services Tuesday, which were held at Barbourville Funeral Home.
He was described in his obituary as being of the Baptist faith, and he enjoyed fishing, helping people, and spending time with family and friends, including his fiancé Whitney Price of Gray, and their two-year-old daughter, Presley Jayce Myrick.
“He loved to fish. It was his favorite thing to do,” Price told the News Journal the day after her fiancé went missing. “He was enrolled in college for welding. He would go to class through the week and I would work. He was home in time to sit with our daughter while I worked. When it was the weekend, it was him time. What he loved to do was fishing and spending time with me and his daughter and going out to Mr. Gatti’s and different places, just spending time together.”
Price told the News Journal that they couple had just gotten the boat on May 1. The family put it in the water and John tested it out on the water the next morning at the KY-312 boat ramp, which, ironically, is where rescue workers staged their operations during the search and family members waited for word last week.
On the morning of May 4, John woke his fiancé up, and kissed her and their daughter goodbye before he went out to get bait. He and his brother, Christian Myrick, ended up at Laurel Lake with the boat.
John Snapchatted his fiancé and daughter later that morning showing them where they were fishing and different areas of the lake.
About 12:15 p.m. on May 4, John Myrick fell into the water near the City Dam on Laurel Lake when the boat capsized. Christian Myrick was able to make it to shore and contact authorities, but he had to be hospitalized afterwards. He was released from the hospital the day after the boat capsized.
On May 6, rescue workers recovered some items from the boat.
A number of area fire departments and other organizations are known to have participated in the search, including: Keavy Fire and Rescue, Corbin Fire and Rescue, London-Laurel County Rescue Squad, Woodbine Fire & Rescue, Laurel County DPS, Laurel County Emergency Management, Whitley County Emergency Management, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, Kentucky State Police, the Louden County (Tennessee) Rescue Squad and the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, including a K-9 unit.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Austyn Weddle investigated the missing person case with Deputy Robert Reed assisting.
