Crews may have gotten footage of Smith Mountain Lake wreckage

Crews may have gotten footage of Smith Mountain Lake wreckage (Image 1) (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE (WSLS) - After days of searching, search crews believe they may be closer to finding the two boats through footage from a camera Friday afternoon.

Ronald Lemons' friends have been searching for him since Tuesday after two boats collided last week. Recovery efforts have led crews to a marked off area on the lake. 

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"We think that there's actually two different areas now. There's one spot that we think that one of the vessels is in, and the other one is just a little ways down," says Phillip Vanderbeer, friend. "From some images that we got today, we feel that there's two different areas to look at."

The water around where the two boats are believed to have collided is about 180 feet deep. They have to use special well cameras to see any details that could be the wreckage.

However with some success search crews have run into problems too. Jeff Bower, another one of Lemons' friends searching here today told us the weather hasn't been on their side.

"The wind has become a problem," says Bower. 

The next steps in the search is for divers to go in. However it depends on the weather when the crews can continue their efforts.