Divers find body of missing 19-year-old in Lake Tyler

LAKE TYLER – Searches came to a tragic end as the body of 19-year-old Eli Swinney being recovered by a team of divers Monday morning according to our news partner KETK. Recovery efforts started Sunday evening after a 911 call for a water rescue during sunset. Smith County Emergency Services District Two believes Swinney fell over the front of a pontoon boat and did not come back up.

The search was called off around 1:45 pm and resumed Monday morning giving divers time to regroup and re-interview witnesses. Rescue crews were in the water by 11 am and by 11:15 am had located and recovered Swinney body.

“We made multiple passes, and we pinged an area that we felt was pretty promising to be the victim,” Division Chief of Training and EMS Charles Clanton said. “And then once that was marked, we put divers in the water, and within 2 to 3 minutes of them entering the water, we had made a location.”

As family and loved ones waited by the marina for answers, the mood changed as every minute went by.

An unimaginable ending to a day out on Lake Tyler that leaves family in heartache.