Bayou Blue man drowns in Cut Off Bay

The body of a Bayou Blue man who drowned Saturday afternoon was found at approximately 2:30 a.m., Monday morning.

The drowning happened after 1 p.m. in the area of Cut Off Bay, out of Point-Aux-Chene.

Algeron Brown, 24, of 109 Central Ave., was reported missing Saturday by his friend Patrick Babin, after the two were ejected from Babin’s boat when they lost control of the steering. According to reports, Babin, 42, was driving the boat and began to light a cigarette. Babin asked Brown to steer the boat, but the boat turned out of control and threw both men into the water.

The two were in Babin’s boat, a 14-foot fiberglass boat with a 25 horsepower motor with a tiller handle.

Neither was wearing a life preserver, according to Captain Malcolm Wolfe of the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. However, boaters over the age of 13 are not required by law to wear life jackets.

Reports say that Babin reached a marker pole, where he turned and saw Brown about 30 to 40 feet back, struggling to swim against the current. Authorities say that Babin saw Brown go under at this point.

Another fisherman spotted Babin, and called the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office to report the drowning.

Babin was transported to Chabert Medical Hospital where he was treated and released.

From there, Terrebonne Parish detectives, Coast Guard and Wildlife and Fisheries began a search for Brown, consisting of dragging the bottom with hooks. “We started around 2 p.m., Saturday,” said Maj. Tommy Odom, of the Water Rescue Unit. “We dragged during the day, and some at night.”

The search ended when authorities spotted Brown’s body floating early Monday morning about a quarter-of-a-mile from where he was last seen.