Louisiana Shrimper Missing for Nearly a Week Found Alive

A shrimper in Louisiana who disappeared while trying to salvage his vessel has been found alive nearly a week later.

According to the United States Coast Guard, Timothy "Blimp" Cheramie and a second unidentified boater were rescued on Thursday, January 4 near Venice, Louisiana by a Jayhawk helicopter crew after Cheramie's shrimp boat ran aground.

However, the following day, Cheramie had a friend take him out to the boat and drop him off so he could try to salvage it.

That's when things went awry.

According to Cheramie, the weather started whipping up, and his boat was torn up and unable to move. So, he had to improvise.

"I knew I couldn't stay on the boat no more," he said. "I had to leave."

Cheramie said he got a crab tray from a nearby camp and managed to paddle his way across the bay to a sand bar. (Basically, he made a makeshift raft.)

He said he managed to paddle from sandbar to sandbar over the next few days, and then he eventually made it back to Joshua's Marina in Buras.

All total, Cheramie was missing for six days.

The U.S. Coast Guard did launch a search by helicopter for the missing boater earlier this week, but severe weather hampered those efforts. At 1:00 am on Tuesday, January 9, the boat was located with no one aboard, however.

Just after noon on Wednesday, January 10, Cheramie's daughter Tiffany posted a video of her father after he had been found alive.

What an amazing ending to this story. We're so happy that "Blimp" is doing fine.