Search and rescue crews with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office (SBSO) Marine Division and the U.S. Coast Guard recovered the body of a Zachary man from a St. Bernard Parish waterway on Oct. 27.
The body of Haskin Payne, 44, was recovered from Bayou Bienvenue around 6 p.m. on Oct. 27. Payne’s body was found near the same area where he fell overboard from his 24-foot-vessel while fishing on Bayou Bienvenue near Chalmette on Oct. 26.
LDWF enforcement agents received a call about a man who fell overboard around 5 p.m. on Oct. 26. The SBSO Marine Division was the first agency on scene and found Payne’s wife in the boat on the banks of the bayou. The SBSO was able to transport the wife to an ambulance and then the ambulance transported her to University Hospital in New Orleans where she got treated for hypothermia.
According to the wife, they were fishing when her husband slipped and fell into the water. Payne’s wife then jumped in the water and was unsuccessful in trying to get him back in the vessel.
LDWF will be the lead investigative agency for this fatal boating incident. Both Payne and his wife were not wearing personal flotation devices at the time of the incident.