DAPHNE, Ala. — The body of a missing boater was found just before 7 p.m. Monday in Spanish Fort on the Causeway, due south of Ed’s Seafood Shed, Capt. Ronny Champion, of Daphne Search and Rescue, said.

The body of Joe Wongsa, 34, of Irvington, was found hours after Wongsa had fallen off his boat while crabbing with friends, according to Champion. The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. Monday.

The body was found a few yards from the spot where he fell, about a half-mile south of Interstate 10, Champion said.

Wongsa was married and the father of four children.

Daphne Search and Rescue received a boater in distress call  around 4 p.m. Searchers spoke with people on Wongsa’s boat and then began scanning the waters on side scan sonar, which gives underwater photographs of the terrain.

“You can tell the difference in a car or boat and can actually see a victim underwater, which is how searchers found the body,” Champion said.

The findings were confirmed on sonar by three searchers before divers recovered the body. Divers then found the victim and brought him onshore to a secure location from press and the public, Champion said.