Dearborn County Water Rescue assists with the search for a man missing in the Ohio River Wednesday afternoon. Kyle Luebbe-Eagle 99.3

Updated posted Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 5:43 a.m.:

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - A man drowned in the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg on Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Fugate, 48, of Petersburg, Ky., was on a johnboat with a relative near the Interstate-275 Carroll Cropper Bridge.  The two had launched from the Petersburg boat ramp a short time earlier.

When the two reached the area of Hollywood Casino and Riverwatch restaurant, Fugate took off his shoes and jumped into the water without a lifejacket to cool off. He then went under and never resurfaced.

His friend, Charles Slagle, threw in a lifejacket in hopes Fugate would come up and grab ahold of it. The lifejacket was later found floating downriver.

Water rescue crews from Boone and Dearborn counties searched for hours using sonar, finally locating Fugate’s body a little before 11:00 Tuesday night.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office brought in their helicopter earlier in the afternoon to help scan the banks of the river for any sign Fugate reached shore.

Original story posted Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 8:06 p.m.

A helicopter hovers overhead as emergency personnel search the Ohio River for a man who went under and never resurfaced Wednesday. Kyle Luebbe-Eagle 99.3

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - Water rescue crews from Indiana and Kentucky spent much of Tuesday afternoon and evening scanning the Ohio River for a man reported missing.

Reports say the unidentified man from Petersburg was boating with a relative when he jumped into the water, went under, and did not resurface.

The incident happened in the area of the Carroll Cropper Bridge (I-275) and the Petersburg Boat Ramp. 

Dearborn County Water Rescue and Boone County Water Rescue began searching the river using sonar and underwater cameras sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m.

Tune into Eagle 99.3 News Wednesday morning starting at 5:30 for the latest information.