Authorities recover body of missing Lake Murray boater
State authorities have recovered the body of a boater who went missing Monday afternoon on Lake Murray.
The state Department of Natural Resources dive team recovered the body of a male boater at about 2:54 p.m. Monday. According to a Facebook post from the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, the man was reported to have fallen overboard at about 11:15 a.m. Monday around Buffalo Creek near the Grant Williams Estates.
Newberry County Coroner Laura Kneece identified the deceased man as Edgar Hofe, 78, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The coroner said an autopsy would be performed this week.
DNR spokesman Greg Lucas said a couple who was visiting Lake Murray from Pennsylvania — they were renting a house for a month, he said — went out fishing Monday morning and, at some point during the excursion, Hofe went overboard. Lucas said the victim was not a strong swimmer, and eventually he went under the water and did not resurface.
Lucas said the man was not wearing a life jacket.
A host of agencies were part of the search, including Newberry County EMS, the state Department of Natural Resources, an aviation unit from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, Newberry County Sheriff’s Office and others.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 4:16 PM.
