MOULTRIE COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — The Moultrie County Coroner has identified a man who drowned in Lake Shelbyville over the weekend.
Lynn Reed, coroner, said 43-year-old Billy J. Briscoe of Hidalgo was pronounced dead around 9:21 p.m. on Saturday.
At approximately 11:20 a.m. that day, the Moultrie County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Coal Shaft Bridge area of Lake Shelbyville after reports emerged about an unattended boat. Joined by the Moultrie County Dive Team, the Shelby County Dive Team, the Sullivan Fire Department, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and officers from the Illinois Department of Conservation Police, they launched a search operation for a missing boater.
Briscoe was discovered by divers at 9:16 p.m. and was declared deceased shortly thereafter. The Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Conservation Police and the Moultrie County Coroner, is conducting an investigation into the drowning.
The Moultrie County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy will be done on Sunday.
