News Release

LAKE MEREDITH NATIONAL RECREATION AREA STAFF LOCATE AND RECOVER BOAT OF MISSING HUNTER

Date: April 20, 2020
Contact: Eric Smith, 806-857-3151

Fritch, Texas – Lake Meredith National Recreation Area staff have located and recovered the boat belonging to the hunter that went missing on December 15, 2019. Ryan Kennedy had been hunting at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and called to tell family he had killed a deer and would be breaking camp and coming home. When he failed to come home that night Kennedy’s family notified the National Park Service that he was missing. Since that day National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and numerous volunteers have searched a large area of the lake in attempt to locate Mr. Kennedy or his boat.

The search continued in the area where some of his belongings were located floating on the lake, and where he had camped. From searching where he had launched his boat and having no “point last seen”, the search area has ended up encompassing a span of over 1500 acres.

On Monday April 13, 2020 National Park Service staff using sonar located a target at a depth of 32 feet approximately 1000 yards outside the original search area that looked like it could be a boat on the lake bottom. On Friday April 17, 2020 National Park Service Divers verified that the target was a boat. Divers recovered the boat from the lake bottom and verified that it was Mr. Kennedy’s boat. Mr. Kennedy’s family has been notified that his boat has been found. The search for Mr. Kennedy’s body will continue and with a known location of where his boat sank that search effort can be much more concentrated.

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area Superintendent, Eric Smith would like to remind all visitors to the lake to remember the risks when recreating around water. Take steps to mitigate those risks such as always wearing a personal flotation device, ensure weight in your boat is evenly distributed and the boat not overloaded, watch the weather and delay your travel on the lake during high wind/wave times and take extra precautions when traveling on the water at night.

For additional information, please call Lake Meredith National Recreation Area Park Headquarters at 806-857-3151.