The search for a missing boater ended Friday afternoon after rescue workers recovered the body of Ernest “Pee Wee” Prevatt just north of Bristol on the Apalachicola River.
Prevatt, 48, had been missing since Jan. 24 when the 14 foot aluminum boat he was in with his son-in-law, Robert Bailey, Sr., 35, sank after they ran out of gas near John Redd Landing. Bailey made it safely to Trammell Bridge, but Prevatte never surfaced.
Search and Rescue teams, along with deputies, from all over the region including Liberty, Gulf, and Calhoun counties in Florida, as well as Houston County, Alabama, joined officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in patrolling the river by boat and air until Prevatt’s body was discovered. They prayed for a miracle, but were hopeful to at least be able to give the family an opportunity to have closure. That came around 3 p.m. Friday when Prevatte was found.
Prevatt will be honored at a memorial service planned Friday at 6 p.m. at Peavy Funeral Home Chapel. He leaves behind his wife, Fran, two daughters and a son-in-law, Tina Finuff, Venus Bailey, and her husband, Robert, along with five grandchildren.
