Couple who left Slidell bayou found safe 24 hours later after boat sank during Cristobal

After their boat sank in Lake Pontchartrain with Tropical Storm Cristobal bearing down on Louisiana’s coast Sunday, two St. Tammany Parish residents clung to a life jacket through the night before making their way to a marsh and seeking refuge in an empty camp near Bayou Lacombe, authorities said.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said Ted Roach and Jennifer Lingoni, who had left Salt Bayou near Slidell at about 1 p.m Sunday, were found nearly 24 hours later, after an extensive search.

Roach and Lingoni told deputies they spent Sunday afternoon and night clinging to a single life jacket after their boat sank in the Rigolets near Treasure Isle. They made it to shore several miles west at Goose Point sometime Monday morning and swam across a marsh area, taking refuge at the camp until they were found, said Suzanne Carboni, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.

Roach’s sister, Glynis Caruthers, said that the two had gone out to pull up their crab traps before the weather turned and their boat sank. Roach told his sister that they were able to swim through the railroad bridge within about 45 minutes of the boat sinking. When they finally reached land, she said, they started walking.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office had been called at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday because the couple had not returned. The Sheriff’s Office Marine Division and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries searched for them by boat until nightfall, when Tropical Storm Cristobal made a continued search too dangerous. A Coast Guard helicopter continued looking through the night.

Searchers returned at first light Monday.

The two were spotted by a passing boater sitting on the porch of the camp and brought to a nearby boat launch, where they were checked by medical personnel and found to be in good condition.

Caruthers said they were “bruised and waterlogged” but safe.

Lingoni was taken to the hospital to be treated for dehydration, Caruthers said. She described the 31-year-old woman as weak and scratched up. Her brother, 35, was on his way home on Monday to greet relieved friends and family.

“Persons should reconsider going on the water during a Tropical Storm,” said Scott Talbo of the U.S. Coast Guard in New Orleans. “Unpredictable sea conditions, winds, and currents can cause even the most experienced of mariners to get into trouble. Those same conditions make it very difficult to locate mariners in distress by aircraft and vessels trying to search.”