Missing boater found in water dead

Marlborough (WTNH) - In Marlborough, a missing fisherman from Hartford has been found dead Friday night.

Verlon Barnes, 56, of Bellvue Street went missing not long after the weather began to change.

"It's not as easy as people think, a lot of times people think that immediately we are going to find the person but really it's a systematic aproach to the unknown," Master Sgt. Paul Gately, of Connecticut State Police, said.

The sun is gone as State police divers searched the dark waters of Lake Terramuggus for a missing fisherman. Divers responded to the call.

Two men had been out fishing in a row boat. One man went to shore to get his rain gear and warm up while the other went out to fish, then disappeared, leaving an empty row boat behind.

Divers are towed in a grid pattern behind the state police boat, feeling along the bottom in blackness for the missing man.

"Once you get to the bottom you stir up the muck; it's weeds about three feet high and the rest is silt so the visibility is very poor," Gately said.

After divers were in the water for hours, the side scan sonar arrived, a fish attached to a cable that allows divers to see into the water and help them find their target.

"What it does is lays out a sonar image of the bottom so you can see hazards, you can see objects and when we find a target we will send a diver down to check on that when we have a good image," Gately said.

After six hours of searching, state police have found the missing man on the side-scan sonar. Divers went into the water and brought him to shore.

"If we feel someone is in the water we will stay until we find him," Gately said.

The victim's identity has not yet been released.