Coast Guard searching for missing boater on Lake Pontchartrain

Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot Response Boat-Small file photo, courtesy Coast Guard Station New Orleans)

Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot Response Boat-Small file photo, courtesy Coast Guard Station New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard, along with state and local responders, continue to search Monday for a boater who was reported missing after the vessel he was on was found adrift with no persons aboard on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans.

Missing is a Billy Coile, a 44-year-old Caucasian male last seen wearing a blue shirt and khakis.

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report Sunday of a 12 to 14-foot recreational vessel adrift near the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway at mile marker 23. Watchstanders were able to contact the owner of the vessel who informed them he had let an acquaintance use it the previous day but had not been in contact since then.

Watchstander coordinated the launch of two Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrews and the launch of a Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew to conduct a search.

Rescue crews searching are:

  • Coast Guard Station New Orleans
  • Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans
  • Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
  • St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office

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