Body of missing fisherman found

RAYMONDVILLE — The body of a fisherman missing since Thursday night floated to the surface of a ditch in eastern Willacy County early Tuesday.

Sheriff Larry Spence said deputies checked the area near a weir at an area known locally as “21 Squares” at Farm to Market Road 1420 and County Road 2100 where Liborio Martinez Jr. disappeared Thursday when he and two cousins attempted to swim across the ditch.

Sheriff’s deputies, Raymondville police, firefighers from three departments, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter crew and volunteers on all-terrain vehicles and horses had searched the ditch banks in the area since Martinez disappeared, the sheriff said.

The body was found at 7:09 a.m. by deputies using a searchlight, Spence said.

“It was right in the area where divers had been searching,” Spence said.

It took more than four days for the body to surface probably because of the cold water temperature, Spence said.

“Our main concern is that there will be closure for the family,” Spence said.