Mississippi River search suspended for man from riverboat

Published 9:51 pm Thursday, December 2, 2021

The Coast Guard says it suspended its search Thursday for a man overboard from the American Queen cruise ship near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Rescue crews spent about 32 hours searching more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the Mississippi River.

The Coast Guard in New Orleans received a radio call just after 2 a.m. Wednesday from the crew of the American Queen about a man overboard. The ship started a rescue effort, and the Coast Guard closed part of the river to deep-draft commercial vessels.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Several agencies helped the Coast Guard with the search, including the East and West Baton Rouge sheriff’s departments and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Louisiana State University campus police searched along the shoreline.

According to a cruise mapping site, the ship left New Orleans on Nov. 29 and was scheduled to stop two places in Louisiana and two in Mississippi before arriving next week in Memphis, Tennessee.