Body of missing Lake Murray boater found

The body of Cynthia Leagans, 46, of Saluda County, was found Tuesday afternoon in Lake Murray about a mile and a half from her lakeside home, Chief Deputy Chris Cockrell of the Saluda County Sheriff’s Department said late Tuesday in a news release.

State and local rescue squads launched a search Tuesday afternoon after an empty pontoon boat was discovered on the lake and a Saluda County man reported that his wife was missing.

Around noon, a boater on Lake Murray reported coming upon a pontoon boat that didn’t appear to have an operator or passengers, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.

The boater’s suspicions were confirmed when he boarded the pontoon boat.

A short time later, Leagan’s husband called authorities to report that his wife was missing and the family’s pontoon boat was gone from the the family’s home on Gold Nugget Point. He told authorities that he did speak to his wife while she was on the boat Tuesday.

The search focused on an area from Gold Nugget Point to Lake Murray Shores in Saluda County to Mariner's Point in Newberry County, Foster said.

Rescue squads from Newberry, Saluda and Union counties as well as members of the Department of Natural Resources, SLED and the Lexington, Newberry and Saluda County Sheriff’s Departments participated in the search.

An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday to determine cause of death.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Body of missing Lake Murray boater found."