WELAKA, Fla. -- Authorities located the body of missing Putnam County Sheriff's Office deputy Brandee Smith Saturday afternoon.
Smith was a 35-year-old mother.
The PCSO says Smith was aboard a 14-foot skiff-style boat that struck a channel marker just after 4:30 Friday morning near Sportsman Drive in Welaka. Smith was thrown overboard.
Another adult on the boat, her boyfriend, is OK, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"This is the type of call you don't want to get in the middle of the night." Sheriff Jeff Hardy said.
Hardy calls her an outstanding deputy and mother.
Hardy says investigators are unaware why the deputy and her boyfriend were on the river so early in the morning. The boat reportedly struck a reflective marker in the water and that forced the deputy overboard.
Captain Joe Wells with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said search crews expanded the search area to five nautical miles in each direction. Wells said that search crews looked through water with zero visibility, 10 to 15 feet deep and in temperatures of 65 to 68 degrees.
Wells said the search is difficult for law enforcement, searching for one of their own. He said there are stress de-briefing teams available to "ensure [search teams] are holding up OK."