As far as I know they still have not found him. This is from the news earlier in the week. I dove the marina last year with a buddy who lives near there. I can verify that lots of fishing line, rope, broken cables, etc underneath the walkways. If I never go back again it will be too soon.
Crews search Norris Lake for missing boater
Water rescue squads from two different counties spent Sunday searching Norris Lake for a man who possibly drowned.
Friends say Larry Collins better known as "Sarge" fell asleep on a house boat in the Mountain Lake Marina.
None of his friends were with him at the time, but they believe "Sarge" woke up and somehow fell off.
Charles Cox has known "Sarge" for the past 10 years. "Sarge" rented a house from him in the Powell area.
Cox was one of the first people to get a call about his disappearance because friends thought "Sarge" might have driven home. But when Cox checked, he wasn't there.
"Can't be anything good happening at 2 a.m. when you get a phone call at that time," says Cox.
Cox adds, "I fear the worst and hope for the best. His glasses were at the house boat. His cellphone was there. His truck keys, his hat was there. He wouldn't leave without those."
A rescue squad from Lafollette began dragging the water near the house boat at about 2:30 a.m.
Durand Carmany, Captain of the Lafollette Rescue Squad says, "There's lots of buoy lines, anchor lines, electrical lines that are hindrances to our recovery effort."
Carmany and the rest of the Lafollette crew stopped searching about three hours later.
They then called in the Knoxville Volunteer Water Rescue Squad and their specialized sonar. It's made for difficult searching environments like Norris Lake.
David Henderson, Captain of Knoxville Water Rescue says, "Instead of taking divers out and searching all over the place near the house boat, we can use the sonar to identify hotspots we need to go to and utilize our resources more efficiently."
The side scan sonar used in the recovery effort is named "Little Will" It was donated to the department in memory of a young boy who died when his father jumped off a South Knoxville bridge while holding him in December of 2003.
Henderson says, "It's been a strong source of inspiration for the divers. We usually dive in zero visibility and very bad conditions. We know if the family who suffered that loss is able to rise above that to help us help people better, it gives us a better way to focus on what we need to do to help more people."
People like the family and friends of "Sarge" Collins. "Sarge" served two tours in Vietnam and survived three open heart surgeries.
Friends say only to be lost in this water he loved so much.
Cox says, "He's a real nice guy. He'd do anything for anybody that kinda of a guy."
Crews plan to keep searching until dark on Sunday. They say if they still don't find "Sarge", they will try again on Monday.
