RedactedNarrative: On november 20, 2017, at approximately 1323 hrs., i, indiana conservation officer was notified about a boat accident that occurred in shelby county at approximately 1218 hrs. On the flatrock river near the geneva lowhead dam.  Initial reports indicated that a small boat with one male occupant went over the dam and capsized.  I contacted the shelby county sheriff's department and they advised that the boat operator was pulled from the water by the shelby county swift water rescue team at 1255 hrs. And transported to major hospital in critical condition.  The unidentified victim arrived at major hospital at 1313 hrs.  
  
  I arrived at the hospital at 1429 hrs. And spoke with medical staff.  The staff advised that the unidentified male victim was being transferred to methodist hospital for further treatment.  They provided me with a set of keys that were in the male's jacket.  I left the hospital and went to the flatrock river area where the accident occurred.  I arrived at approximately 1509 hrs., and located the boat still in the boil of the lowhead dam. I took photos and recorded the registration number on the boat, in8231ap.  Efforts were made to run the registration to identify the owner but those efforts were unsuccessful.  
  
  I talked to the original 911 caller.  Caller stated that he observed a white male wearing an orange jacket using oars to navigate with as the boat floated down the river.  Caller stated that he tried to warn the male several times that he was getting ready to go over the dam, but the current was so swift that the male was unable to paddle fast enough to get the boat to shore.  Caller stated that once the boat went over the dam, he called 911 and offered words of encouragement to the victim to continue to hold on to the boat until help arrived.  Caller stated that it appeared that there was a propane tank that was inside the boat with the male and that the tank was stuck in the boil and kept hitting the male in the head while he was in the water.  
  
  Caller has lived near the river for several years and stated that he did not recognize the man or the boat.  After talking to him, i drove along the river looking for an abandoned vehicle that may be in a position where the male victim could have launched the boat.  I continued looking until well after sunset on both sides of the river and was not able to locate a vehicle matching this description.  I spoke with several residents in the area and asked if they knew someone that had a boat similar to the one involved in the accident.  Each time i followed up on a lead that someone would give me regarding the possible boat owner, the investigation would come to an end because potential owner would be located and their boat would be confirmed to be on site.  The search for leads ended at approximately 2000 hrs.
  
  	at approximately 2319 hrs., ico dispatch received a call from suject, stating that she may have information regarding the accident.  I called subject and she advised that she was with her boyfriend, operator1 earlier in the day near st. Paul.  She stated that they got in to an argument and that operator1 got in to a boat and told her that he was going to float the flatrock river to knoblitt park in columbus, in.  She stated that operator1 asked if she wanted to accompany him, and she said that it was too cold and he didn't have any life jackets so she declined the offer.  Subject stated that he was wearing an orange jacket and that was the last time that she talked to him or seen him and she feared that the person we had a methodist hospital was operator1.  I asked subject to describe any tattoos that operator1 had and that i would contact hospital staff to see if we could confirm his identity in that manner.  Subject provided approximately six different tattoos on various locations of operator1's body.  I contacted methodist hospital staff and they were able to confirm all of the tattoos that the unidentified victim had.  I explained to the staff about the current situation and that i was going to have subject come to the hospital for a positive identification.
  
  	i called subject back and advised her that it appeared that the victim was operator1, but we would need to do a positive visual identification before we could be for sure that it was him. I asked if she could go to the hospital, and she said yes.  I asked subject if operator1 had any other family that i could contact and she stated that his mother was living, but they did not communicate with each other.  At approximately 0021 hrs on november 21, 2017, i began to ask subject some very specific questions regarding how we got to this point.  I asked if the boat belonged to operator1 and subject stated that it belonged to a friend.  When i asked more questions regarding the friend, subject then admitted that the boat was really just a random boat that operator1 decided to go for a ride in. 
  
  I asked subject if she could recall where they were when he got in to the random boat and she said that she wasn't sure where they were but she thought they were close to st. Paul.  I asked what type of vehicle they were driving and she said they were driving a maroon chevy blazer.  I asked subject where she was currently and she said that she was in columbus and that she had to have a friend come and pick her up after operator1 left in the boat because they chevy blazer would not start.  I asked what was wrong with the blazer and she stated that they had been have problems with the alternator and she suspected that was the problem.  Subject stated that she last saw operator1 around 1030 hrs. And she sat with the chevy blazer until approximately 2030 hrs. Before she could find a friend to come and pick her up.  Subject stated that she had to send a pin on a map to her friend because she didn't know the location where she was at.  I asked if the location was in a rural area that was out in the open or if there were houses nearby, and she said that there were not any houses close to the broke down vehicle.  I asked what they were even doing in that area and subject said that they were en route to the casino.  The more questions i asked subject, the more she seemed to not remember and would either not answer or ignore the questions that i asked.  
  
  	on november 22, 2017 operator1 was released from the hospital.
  
  	on november 23, 2017, i drove along the flatrock river looking for the maroon chevy blazer vehicle to try and find the location where the boat was taken.  I was unable to locate the vehicle.  Later that evening, i drove to operator1's residence in columbus, in to interview him and he was not there.
  
  	on november 24, 2017, the shelby county sheriff's department received a call, stating that there was a maroon chevy blazer on her property that was covered with a tarp.  Upon further investigation, it was determined that there were items inside the vehicle that had been stolen from the property, and the boat belonging to her brother was missing from a shed on the property.  Detective captain is handling the burglary and theft of items from the residence and property.  The vehicle was towed from the scene and transported to ross towing in shelbyville, in.
  
  	on december 6, 2017, the shelby county swift water rescue team recovered the boat from the flatrock river and it was returned to the property.
  