Search continues for missing Welsh officer; boat found circling water
Published 2:17 pm Monday, November 27, 2023
- Steven Iguess
The search is continuing for a missing Welsh police officer after his boat was found unoccupied on the Mermentau River near Gary’s Landing in Cameron Parish.
Adam Einck, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said Monday wildlife agents and the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office have been searching the last four days for the missing man identified as Steven “Coon” Iguess, 49, of Welsh. Iguess is a part-time police officer for the Welsh Police Department.
“We responded to an incident which happened Thursday night when an unmanned vessel was spotted going in circles in the Mermentau River,” Einck said. “The Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office was able to disable the vessel and we have been searching for a person ever since.”
Iguess was reportedly returning from a solo Thanksgiving Day hunting trip in a 17-foot aluminum hull boat when he disappeared.
“A witness saw the vessel going in circles and contacted the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office and they contacted us,” Einck said. “We are continuing our search and hope to find him soon.”
The search has focused on an area near Lowry just south of the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center and the intercoastal waterway just east of Mermentau, Einck said.
Authorities are using K-9s, boats, drones and sonars in an attempt to locate Iguess.
