Body of woman who drown in Neches River recovered

Texas Game Warden Ryan Hall said late Sunday that the body of a woman who drowned on Saturday afternoon in the Neches River had been found. Hall said he and others believe the dead to be 44-year-old Summer Clark of Vidor, who was swimming in the same area, south of Evadale, near the mouth of Village Creek. He said the body was found shortly after 7:00 pm by searchers who had been looking for her since the drowning occurred. Jasper County Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace Steve Connor pronounced Clark dead at the scene and also at the same time called for an autopsy before making an official ruling on the death.  On Saturday, around 5 p.m., authorities say Clark’s fiancée, Christopher Moore, reported she had went missing. He told officers that he and Clark had been boating along the Neches River and had stopped at a sandbar just north of the mouth of Village Creek to swim, when she apparently was caught in currents that carried her away. The search began immediately with the game wardens, deputies from the Jasper County Sheriff's Department, members of the Jasper County Emergency Corps and Kirbyville Fire Department all looking in the area southeast of Evadale where Jasper, Orange, and Hardin Counties meet.