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A paddleboarder who was reported missing was found holding onto a branch and was successfully pulled from the Conecuh River early Sunday morning.

The River Falls Police Department responded to the report of a missing person near the bridge at U.S. Hwy. 84 at approximately 1:21 a.m. on Sunday.

According to the RFPD, the call reported that a male had failed to return home after being on the Conecuh River with his paddleboard. The male subject made a phone call to his wife several hours prior and said he was about to return from his trip to the river. After a few hours had passed, the male subject’s wife made the call to request a welfare check.

Covington County deputies responded to the boat ramp near the U.S. Highway 84 bridge and located the subject’s vehicle but did not locate the individual.

“Our agency was then requested to deploy our boat to assist in locating this individual,” Chief Marcus Laster said. “We then made contact with PowerSouth Energy requesting them to shut down the dam while the search was underway. Once a plan of action was put in place, our boat was launched into the river. After several minutes on the water, we were able to locate the male subject in the water away from his paddleboard and holding onto a small limb barely keeping his head above water.”

Officers were able to get the man into the boat and transported him to Prestwood Bridge, where Advanced EMS was waiting to provide medical assistance.

“The individual had been in the water for several hours and had limited energy remaining. Once aboard the boat, we made contact with the individual’s wife for him to speak with her and informed her that he was going to be okay,” Laster added.

Chief Laster expressed his gratitude to the Covington County Sheriff’s Office for assistance in bringing their boat to the scene. He also thanked Beau Grissett, Greg Palmer, his reserve team, Advanced EMS, county dispatchers, the Andalusia Police Department, and PowerSouth Energy for their exceptional efforts in this rescue operation.