According to the operator, he was traveling SE headed toward Lake Dardanelle State Park for the High School World Fishing Tournament Final weigh-in.  He stated they were going approximately 60mph across the lake when his motor lost power and V1 spun out of control, turned up on it's side taking in water and then came to rest in an upright position.  The operator was ejected from V1 but was recovered without any injuries.  When he got back into V1 he inspected it and noticed the lower unit was missing.  Another fisherman towed them to the State Park ramp.
 
Operator stated he did not seeing anything in is path or remember hitting anything and thought the motor just fell off as a result of mechanical failure.  However, upon investigation we traveled the same path of V1 and noticed several logs ranging in length and diameter bobbing up and down in the lake.  These logs were only visible for short periods of time when they would hit the bottom of the lake and float back up and resurface.  We pulled several of the logs up to see if we could find any prop marks or impact area but were unable to identify any.  It is our determination V1 struck one of these logs or another underwater obstruction causing the lower unit to be ripped off.
RUSSELLVILLE