Body of Patriot Marquise Hill found in New Orleans lake
By John Tomase and Jessica Heslam
Monday, May 28, 2007 - Updated: 07:13 PM EST
NEW ORLEANS - Authorities have found the body of heroic New England Patriots [team stats] player Marquise Hill, who went missing last night after a jet skiing mishap on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
Marquise Hill: Related articles, multimedia & images » AP video: NFL Player’s Body Found
Hill’s body was discovered around 2:15 p.m. today by searchers with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department about a quarter-mile from the accident, said Capt. Brian Clark. The family was to positively identify him.
“The family will have to make positive identification,” Clark told the Associated Press, “but the body we found was that of Mr. Marquise Hill.”
Before the discovery of the body, Hill’s anguished mother, Sherry Hill, told the Herald she was waiting for a “miracle.”
“I’m just waiting. I’m just waiting on a miracle with our name on it. He’s not supposed to be gone. It’s too soon. It’s too soon. I’m just sitting here missing him, waiting for him to come home, waiting for him to walk through that door. He can’t be gone.”
Hill had been the subject of a frantic U.S. Coast Guard search.
“Marquise and a classmate friend of his, a young lady, were out jet skiing on Lake Pontchartrain where there’s a bad underflow and strong currents. They hit a wake and were thrown off the jet ski,” his agent, Albert Elias, told the Herald.
Neither was wearing a life jacket, the Coast Guard said.
Elias said he spoke with Hill’s companion and she either couldn’t swim or had difficulty swimming.
“Marquise knew this and being a strong swimmer, he was instructing her as he drifted away in a different direction to stay calm and don’t fight the water. He found a buoy or piling behind her and told her to let the current take her to that. She listened to him and it pretty much saved her life,” Elias said. “She’s home this morning in bed.”
The last time the woman saw the 24-year-old defensive end, a native of New Orleans, he was “still floating down the lake,” his agent said.
“It’s just like him to put someone else’s life in front of his own. That’s the way he always was. That’s about all we know,” Elias said. “All we can do now is pray.”
Before the discovery, the Patriots offered their support.
“We are all shocked,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. “We can only hope and pray that the search and rescue is successful. Our thoughts and prayers are with Marquise and his family. We know that Marquise is a strong young man and will remain optimistic while continuing to pray for his rescue.”
The incident began before 9:30 last night, when a Good Samaritan boater heard screams and plucked the woman, who was clinging to pilings, from the salt water lake, said Coast Guard Lt. Jg. Anna Visneski. The woman told the boater that two people had been on board the jet ski, which was recovered last night. The boater couldn’t locate Hill and the Coast Guard began its search last night. [continue]
Visneski said the boaters spotted Hill, but by the time they got there, they couldn’t find him.
The Coast Guard used boats and a helicopter to search while Wildlife and Fisheries used a recovery line that dragged the bottom of the water.
Visneski said the conditions were calm.Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest saltwater lake in the United States. It covers 630 square miles with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet.
Last night, the search was hampered by darkness, rain and white capping.
Hill, a promising young player, is 6-foot-6 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds. He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Patriots [team stats] in the second round in 2004. He graduated from De La Salle High School in New Orleans.
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1003500
