Watch Live: Update on search for missing boater at Lake Como near FGCU

Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are searching for a college student who fell overboard while boating on Lake Como near Florida Gulf Coast University. They are holding a news conference with an update on progress, which you can stream above.

LCSO deployed several cruisers, helicopters and dive teams while they feverishsly searched Lake Como, Wednesday afternoon and into the evening.

The private lake is located between the North Lake Village housing community by Alico Arena and Miromar Lakes.

LCSO held a press event at 7 p.m. Wednesday night regarding updates and potential causes of the incident.

“The water is dark and murky. It’s a very difficult lake to navigate, as it goes from 19 feet to sometimes 20-30 feet really fast. We don’t know exactly what we are faced with, yet we are hoping for the best. I can assure all hands are on deck, and as we get information we’ll bring it to you,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

Marceno added that it was a private vessel that came from Miromar Lakes.

Marceno said that the victim, an FGCU student who was not identified, went overboard and never returned. LCSO reports the boat held 13 people with a capacity to hold 16.

An FGCU student witness told WINK News that he saw the boat speeding while loud music was playing throughout Wednesday afternoon.

“When somebody pulls up to the police on a boat and they look pretty panicked and I would say there was about eight or nine police officers. I don’t know if they were on-campus police or not, but you can tell they were pretty panicked because nobody knew what was going on at the moment,” the student said.

FGCU President Aysegul Timur released a statement for college students advising them of the search of the missing student, while reminding them that mental health and counseling services are available to provide comfort and support to FGCU students.

Walk-ins for counseling will be available for anyone who needs them.

LCSO will hold another press conference at 11 a.m. Thursday at FGCU. WINK News will update with further details.