Body of boater found in Bonnet Carre Spillway in Bonnet

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 18, 2008

By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

NORCO – The body of a New Orleans man missing since March 9 was discovered Sunday by fisherman trolling the waters of the Bonnet Carre Spillway near Norco, said a spokesman for the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office, said after a brief search of the man’s clothing, investigators on the scene determined the body was that of 67-year-old Oscar McGee.

Yoes said McGee was last seen March 9 at his home in New Orleans. He said a vehicle owned by McGee was found abandoned on I-10 westbound over Lake

 Pontchartrain near mile marker 213. The body was found in the upper section of the cross cut canal, not far from where the vehicle was abandoned.

Yoes said there were no visible signs of foul play. He said the death is ruled as unclassified, but suicide is a possibility. Yoes said family members told police that McGee had a history of depression and that he was on antidepressant medications. They said McGee spent a lot of time traveling I-10 and I-55 going back and forth from a second home in McComb, MS.

Yoes said the death is still under investigation, and an autopsy report on the cause of death is still pending.