Body found along Cape Fear River days after group of boaters rescued

A body was found on Wednesday along the Cape Fear River days after four people were rescued from going missing following a boating accident.

Four people were rescued from the Cape Fear River on Thursday in Lee County. Police did not reveal the identify of the remains found on Wednesday, but did confirm the remains were of the still-missing person from the Dec. 28 boating accident.

Last week, rescue crews were searching the river at Lett's Landing on the 3200 block of Buckhorn Road just south of Moncure for five people who went to the river.

Rescuers searched from the air, on land and in the water Thursday afternoon after the teens were reported missing.

The four people who were rescued are expected to be okay.

A dozen different departments had representatives help in the search.

Lee County emergency management director Matthew Britt said the choppy flow of the water on Thursday made it a tough day for boaters.

"The water was rough yesterday," Britt said. "They made it approximately a half-mile from launch and got in a rough current."

Crews also searched through the neighboring wooded areas.

Cecil Cameron has lived in the area all of his life. Cameron thinks he saw the group of boaters on their way to the river on Thursday.

"I said are you going behind the dam on the Buckhorn side? He said 'no, we're going to letts' landing' so that makes me think it has to be the same boys," Cameron said.

Cameron grew up on the water and knows the Cape Fear River well. He felt recent rainfall could have been a factor.

"With the three-and-a-half inches of rain we've had in two days, there's a tremendous amount of water flowing into that river," Cameron said. "The flow would be real strong and where they went in would be very strong."

At one point, crews were focusing on an area approximately 4.5 miles away from Buckhorn Dam.

Josh Billings, fire chief of the Cape Fear Fire Department, said the water level was up 5-to-7 feet from normal.

"You can't do search operation walking people in water that is 3 feet deep in some areas and 15 feet deep in other areas," Billings said.