Vessel was at anchor when it was recovered by rental company employee. Outboard motor lower unit was broken off and teleflex steering cable had been broken also. Based on my training and experience this damage was caused by striking a submerged hard object such as the submerged rocks that were located near where this vessel was found.
	On Monday July 24, 2023 at approximately 1430 hours Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was on patrol in Bay County. I was in uniform and in a marked patrol vehicle. I received a call from FWC Dispatch about a boating accident in St. Andrew Bay. Dispatch advised the accident had occurred on Saturday July 22, 2023 at approximately 1430 hours and was just now being reported by the boat rental company. 
I called the complainant who is the owner of the livery. LIVERY OWNER stated she had damage to one of her rental pontoon boats and needed a report completed. I asked where the vessel in question was located and she said it was at her rental business. I asked her why she had not reported the accident when it happened and she said she spoke to an FWC Officer and he told her to make a report. I checked with our officers and they all said they knew nothing about the accident or had spoken to LIVERY OWNER.  I went to the rental arriving at approximately 1445 hours and was met by an employee who showed me the vessel involved in the accident. This person told me he was not working the day of the accident but that person would be working Wednesday and could give me the information on what happened. I inspected the vessel and found the damage was to the lower unit of the outboard motor. It had been sheared off by striking a hard object underwater. I tried the steering and found the teleflex cable was broken.  I photographed the vessel and the damaged motor. I called LIVERY OWNER back and asked if she had gotten an estimate on the cost to repair her vessel and she said she had, that the lower unit would cost $2200.00 plus any labor charges to install it. Also the steering system was damaged and would cost $200.00 to repair. 
                  I was given the renters contact information by LIVERY OWNER. She was unable to tell me if these individuals were still in the Panama City area. I tried the two phone numbers she provided and was unable to reach anyone. Neither phone number had a voice mail set up.  After several days of trying  both numbers, I was able to reach the subject who had rented the pontoon boat. I asked PAX 1 if she was the operator of the vessel and she told me no. She said OP1 was the operator. I asked her to tell me what happened on the day she rented the boat. She said they were fishing in the area of West Beach Drive. She said they were anchored and OP1 tried to crank the motor and it would not crank. She said there was oil in the water around the motor.  I asked her due to the damage I observed to the motor and steering cable what they might have hit. She said they had not hit anything that she knew of. I also spoke with OP1 and he told me the same as PAX 1. 
  	 I spoke with employee who was working at the boat rental the day of the accident. He said he was sent to tow in the pontoon boat. He stated the lower unit was missing from the outboard motor and it appeared it had been broken off. He told me the people on the pontoon boat said they didn't know what had happened to the motor and denied hitting anything with the motor while underway. This area where the boat was found has three breakwaters that are constructed of large rocks. Some of the rocks are submerged out from the shoreline but there is a sign warning of the hazard. 

ST ANDREW BAY
PANAMA CITY                   