PLAQUEMINES, La. – Two shrimpers walk away in tears after a loved one tried to rescue them just hours before tropical storm Ida made landfall.
“My uncle Chico went out to look for Cuchduff, and on the way of going out, we understand the boat flipped over but they can't find him,” said the missing shrimper’s nephew.
The shock was still raw, as family members didn't want to talk about the search for 70-year-old Leo Ancalade, a shrimper known as "Chico."
Even the man leading the search was broken up about it. Tuesday, his nephew said off camera that he now knows him as his hero.
Coast Guard helicopters began searching for Ancalade last night and stopped after dark. But at daybreak they and others flew along the coast still looking for the shrimper.
According to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office, their Marine Department had five boats combing the coastline from Fort Jackson to the mouth of the Mississippi. But still no sign of him.
“He was risking his life just moving that boat from the dock. You know, he was too good. He was a good dude,” said fellow shrimper, Louie Barthalemy.
Shrimpers like Barthalemy were shocked Ancalade left the dock in the tropical storm-force winds.
“It really surprised me,” said Barthalemy. “Because he never played with the weather. I don't know what happened but Chico really respected the weather.”
Shrimpers in Plaquemines say their community of fishermen is at a loss today. Some even went out along the levee today searching for him themselves.
“He gave you the clothes off his back. Anything he got,” said Barthalemy. “If you needed to eat, or you needed some money or whatever. If he could help you, he could help you. It's a big loss. Everybody’s going to miss him, you know. He's a good dude.”
A family member said Ancalade raised a 100 kids in Buras, most of which were not his own. Now they just hope this recovery mission ends with closure for his parish-wide family.
