The boat of a hunter missing since December has been recovered at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas/NPS file

Four months after a hunter said he was heading home from Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas but never returned, his boat has been recovered and a search continues for his body.

Ryan Kennedy had been hunting at the NRA last December and called to tell his family he had killed a deer and would be breaking camp and coming home. When he failed to return, Kennedy’s family notified the National Park Service on December 15 that he was missing. Since that day Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and numerous volunteers have searched a large area of the lake in attempt to locate Kennedy or his boat.

The search continued in the area where some of his belongings were located floating on the lake and where he had camped. On April 13, Park Service staff using sonar located this boat at a depth of 32 feet approximately 1,000 yards outside the original search area. On April 17, Park Service divers recovered the boat and verified it was Kennedy’s.

The search for Kennedy’s body is continuing in the area where his boat was recovered.