Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre announced a body recovered from Bayou Lafourche on Tuesday has been identified. The body of 26-year-old Coby Lewis of Houma was found on Tuesday following an incident in which Lewis ran from deputies late Monday night.

On Monday, January 25, 2021, just before midnight, deputies had responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot at a restaurant on LA Highway 1 in Mathews. When deputies arrived, they found a man sitting inside a maroon SUV. Deputies made contact with the man and identified him as Coby Lewis. As deputies were speaking to Lewis outside his vehicle, Lewis ran from the scene, crossing LA Highway 1, and then he jumped into Bayou Lafourche. Shortly after he entered the bayou, deputies lost sight of him. With assistance from LPSO Water Patrol deputies, the Lockport Volunteer Fire Department, and the Houma Police Department, they searched the bayou and surrounding area through the night but were unable to locate him.

The search continued on Tuesday morning, and at around 11 a.m., Lewis’s body was recovered from Bayou Lafourche. The investigation points to Lewis’ suspected manner of death as drowning.