Sheriff identifies dead man in Amite River after launch from Tiki Tubing

WATSON, Louisiana (WAFB) – A man from Rapides Parish died on Saturday, July 24 in what investigators believe was “accidental drowning” while diving on the Amite River, according to the office of the Sheriff of Livingston Parish.

MPs say they were sent to Hancock Lane near Watson, Louisiana shortly before noon for a medical call for an unresponsive man.

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“Dispatchers learned that a male tuber was underwater shortly after it was launched from Tiki Tubing. Detectives learned from witnesses that the man was gone [of] the tube and entered the water up to the waist. He slipped and struggled to get back to the surface. The LPSO and our First Responder partners have responded. All attempts to revive him have failed, ”Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard told WAFB.

The sheriff identified the man as Elson Johnson, Jr., 52, of Deville, La.

Ard says the cause of death awaits the results of an autopsy.

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