ETOWAH COUNTY, AL (WBRC) – Crews are continuing their search on Monday morning for 30-year-old Christopher Mostello who they believe drowned on the Coosa River on Sunday afternoon.
Scott Hassell with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office says they will bring more deputies to the river to be extra eyes on the water. Officials believe Mostello’s body will surface at some point on Monday.
Hassell says Mostello, who didn’t know how to swim, somehow got out of the boat and into the water. Two people who were with him tried to save him but weren’t successful.
Mostello was last seen in the water about two miles south from Rainbow Landing, in the Rainbow City/Southside area of Etowah County.
Searchers from ALEA’s Marine Police and the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office have been looking for him since 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 14.
They placed a buoy in the water to mark one of the two spots where Mostello was last reported being seen.
Authorities say the river bottom in that area is murky and full of stumps, and covers a wide area so sending in divers is not practical.
Some of Mostello’s family members gathered at the Rainbow Landing on Monday morning as they await word from the search crews.
“They’re absolutely devastated as any parent or family would be. What started as a beautiful Sunday afternoon on the water turned into a tragedy for them and they’re just standing the vigil with us and hoping for a quick recovery as well,” Hassell said.
Mostello’s father Herman Mostello said their hearts are heavy for his missing son. He and his son both worked at National Cement of Alabama in Ragland.
“I hate it happened to him, I would rather it had been me than my son,” he said.
Herman Mostello said his wife is in “bad shape” over their son’s possible drowning.
“I know the love that he had for her and she has for him. You can’t lose 30 years and just walk away and forget about it,” he said.
Herman Mostello said their church family is helping them get through this tragedy.
The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office is bringing in their crisis chaplaincy team with eight to nine chaplains to help console the Mostello’s family.
Information provided by WBRC Fox 6
Used with permission, Copyright 2015 WBRC. All rights reserved.
UPDATED
The body of the man who drowned in the Coosa River in Etowah County over the weekend, has now been recovered.
Scott Hassell, an Administrator with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office, issued a statement early this (Tuesday) morning saying only that they had recovered the body.
Additional should be forthcoming later in the day.
The victim, 30 year old Christopher Mostello of Jacksonville, was boating with friends when he went into the water around 3:30 Sunday afternoon.
Friends attempted to pull him from the water but were unsuccessful in doing so.
The incident occurred approximately two miles downstream from Rainbow Landing.
Boats had constantly patrolled the area and searchers had been using underwater scanning devices in an attempt to locate the body.
(al.com/www.al.com/WBRC/www.myfoxal.com)
