12/20/09 Seminole Duck Hunter Missing

[rkent44]

Heard about this earlier today.  Prayers for the family.
________
A search will resume Monday morning for a hunter who was reported missing Sunday afternoon on Lake Seminole, said Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Wildlife Commission.

Kirkland said John Mark Slappey, 34 of Albany, Ga., and his half brother Andrew Dismuke, 25, also of Albany, had been duck hunting most of the earlier part of the day.

At 12:40 p.m., Slappey was placed in a float tube near the Jim Woodruff Dam while Dismuke approached another section trying to steer ducks back towards Slappey, Kirkland said.

But when Dismuke returned to the area, Slappey was missing.

The water current at the dam is intense at this time, Kirkland said. At one point, some workers at the dam spotted Slappey and tried to get a buoy to him, but Slappey couldn't reach it and was pulled through the dam on the Apalachicola River side.

He was not wearing a life jacket while harnessed in the tube, which is used as a hunting device, Kirkland said.

[aaronr1971]

Thats aweful.I fished Seminole yesterday and the current is extremly strong.I can't imagine how strong it is below the dam.The water temp was 52 yesterday.I don't understand why anyone would be in a tube under these conditions.I sure hope he is alright.

[FlFedAngler]

Prayers from me!  It's especially sad this time of year.

[fishinfranklin]

I seen this on walb lastnight,, prayers sent,,very sad at this time of the year.

[Swede]

Tough news to hear - prayers sent.

[rkent44]

12/21 update

Search Continues for Missing Duck Hunter

Search and rescue teams from Bay County and Wewahitchka joined forces today to search as much of the area as possible. While they're trying to remain hopeful that they'll find John Slappey, they know they've got a lot of ground to cover.
Search and rescuers spent Monday combing Lake Seminole looking for a missing duck hunter, but didn't have any luck.

John Mark Slappey was out duck hunting on a boat on the lake Sunday with his brother- in- law, and at some point went out onto a floating device near the buoys. It wasn't long before witnesses spotted him drifting with the current towards the dam. "It was approximately four to five minutes from the time we noticed him til the time he went through the spillway. We had made attempts made rescue efforts all rescue efforts possible got the crane in position to lower the gate in hopes that we could drop it in time to catch John.," says Jason Barrentine, Power Project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"We're actually in an above flood stage so it's making it very difficult because the current is you know four or five times fold what it normally is," says Vann Pullen, chief of police in Chattahoochee.

Witnesses say Slappey surfaced twice, but they did not see him after that.
The search will continue and they remain hopeful.
"There's usually no time line on it, we will continue this until we know we've done enough. I would expect through Thursday or Friday, possibly later than that," says Lt. Neil Pearce, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Slappey's family drove down from Albany but declined to speak with us on camera.

Search and rescue teams say while they'll often search for missing boaters on the lake, it's pretty unusual for anyone to be that close to the dam, but they'll continue their efforts on the water and in the air until he is found.

[-Joe-]

This from Local TV station here in Albany where he's from;



CHATTAHOOCHEE,  FL (WALB) Searchers on the Apalachicola River wrapped up their third day of looking for an Albany hunter.

John Slappey was swept over the Jim Woodruff Dam on Lake Seminole while he was duck hunting Sunday afternoon. Rescuers and his family presume he drowned.

So far they've recovered some of John Slappey's equipment but still no sign of him. And last week's heavy rain and flooding isn't helping their efforts.

It's Day three on the Apalachicola River in search of 34-year-old John Slappey of Albany. He was last seen Sunday afternoon on Lake Seminole just north of the Jim Woodruff Dam hunting ducks with his brother Andrew.

"The water as high as it is and as fast and turbulent as it is making the search difficult and that's why we're not sending down divers. It's too dangerous," said Lt. Mike Hodges with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Instead Florida law officers, volunteer search and rescue teams, and just concerned citizens float atop the violent river searching for Sappy's body hoping it will float to the surface.

And water near the dam is so turbulent, search groups can't even go near it.

"There's a part that is actually like a suction and it will suck you in then keep spitting you back out," said Lt. Hodges.

On Sunday when Slappey went over the spillway gate dam workers tried rescuing him and say he re-surfaced twice, only to be pulled down one final time by the current.

"I was hoping we'd get that call that a guy was cold and wet and needed a ride home, but it just hasn't happened," said Chattahoochee Police Chief Vann Pullen.

Slappey leaves behind his wife Mandy and their 1-year-old daughter Sawyer. Search teams say they won't give up on finding Slappey's body.

"At least to be able to recover the body so the family has closure," said Hodges.

Even if that means continuing their search on Christmas Day. Family members we spoke with are obviously struggling to grasp what happened to Slappey.

They're encouraging the community that in lieu of flowers to sent memorial contributions to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital or Wewa Search and Rescue many of the men and women who have been searching for his body are volunteers, and the family wants to thank them.

A celebration of life service is already set for John Slappey in Albany on 1 pm December 26th.

KIMBRELL-STERN OBITURAY

DECEMBER 24, 2009

A celebration of life service for John Mark Slappey, 34 of Albany will be held at 1 PM, Saturday, December 26, 2009 at First United Methodist Church in Albany.  Dr. Tom Jacobs and Rev. Mitch Friar will officiate.  The family will receive friends following the service.

John was a native of Albany and a life long resident of the area.  He attended Lee County High School,  Riverview Academy and was a 94 graduate of Terrell Academy.  He was former employee of FedEx Freight and was an employee of  Conway Freight.  He was a loving husband, father, son, grandson, brother, and friend to all that knew him.  He was a cowboy, an avid hunter, fisherman and a lover of animals.  He was of the Methodist faith.

He is survived by his wife, Mandy DeLoach Slappey, daughter, Sawyer Slappey; his parents: Mark Slappey, and Susan Dismuke, his step-father, Alan Dismuke, Sr., his step-mother, Carol Slappey, his brothers, Andrew Dismuke and Alan Dismuke Jr., his sisters, Heather Culpepper,  Jennifer Slappey, and Cindy Dollander, his father-in-law, Benjie DeLoach and mother-in-law Elaine DeLoach, his grandmother, Mrs. A. M. Slappey Jr., his beloved dog "Shorty" and his horse "Willy".

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or Wewa Search and Rescue, P. O. Box 966, Wewahitchka, FL  32465

You may sign the online register and share your own thoughts and memories with the family of John Slappey by visiting Kimbrell-Stern's website at