No one aboard capsized boat in Mississippi River

A boat found capsized in the Mississippi River near the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge had no people on board, according to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

Battalion chief Brad Dillow said a report of a capsized boat came in at around 11:15 a.m. Thursday. Upon arrival, fire crews verified there was an approximately 15-foot fiberglass boat adrift in the middle of the channel.

“We had our boats and stuff responding to the boat ramp to go out and do a visual check,” Dillow said. “There was nobody around the boat. Nobody north or south of the boat in the water.”

The Missouri Dry Dock sent a tugboat out into the river to retrieve the capsized boat and discovered it was just the outside fiberglass shell.

“The guts and internals were all gone from inside the boat,” Dillow said.

Fire crews notified the Coast Guard, who informed personnel they had received a report meeting the same description Wednesday in Chester, Illinois.

“Basically, with the river up right now, it probably dislodged and started floating,” Dillow said.

According to Dillow, the situation is now the responsibility of the Coast Guard, and barge traffic downriver has been notified.