Authorities Searching for Missing Rutherford County Man on Center Hill Lake

A 42 year old Rutherford County man who rented a pontoon boat from Center Hill Marina and set out on the lake Tuesday has gone missing.

Authorities are looking for Joseph Loupe.

Officials of the TWRA, DeKalb County Rescue Squad, and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department conducted a search on the lake Wednesday afternoon in the general area where Loupe was last seen on Tuesday, about three quarters of a mile from the marina.

According to TWRA Officer Tony Cross, Loupe's boat was spotted unoccupied but still in gear and traveling in a circle, Tuesday afternoon. " He rented the boat around midday Tuesday from Center Hill Marina. Approximately 50 minutes to an hour later, the boat was discovered unoccupied out on the lake, still moving, in gear. He has not been accounted for. Several different agencies are working on it.. We've not officially ruled it a boating accident but we're treating it as such, working side by side with the sheriff's department in DeKalb and Rutherford county."

After getting the boat stopped, an Edgar Evins Marina employee and park ranger began a visual search, scanning the banks and shoreline in the area, before contacting the TWRA.

Officer Cross said there was one sighting of the man on the lake prior to his disappearance. "We had a witness (an employee of Edgar Evins Marina) who saw the rental pontoon and saw that there was a person on board, but he was quite a distance away. He just happened to take notice of it since there is very little boat traffic on the lake right now. He noticed it was a rental pontoon from Center Hill Marina and it looked like one person was on the boat but nothing appeared to be amiss."

TWRA officers scanned the banks by boat throughout the afternoon and dragging operations by the rescue squad continued until dark, but to no avail. The search is being conducted near where the boat was found in about 110-145 feet of water

Officer Cross said the search is expected to resume Thursday. If you have information contact the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department at 597-4935.

Natural Gas Prices Expected to Remain Stable this Winter

Natural gas customers could see lower home heating costs this winter.

Les Enoch, CEO of Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, said prices have stabilized. Couple that with a mild winter and energy conservation, and gas customers could reap the benefits. "Fall light up season is underway and it's a great time to provide a winter update. The information we have at this time is that natural gas prices continue to remain stable due to increased supply, higher production, and robust underground storage balances. As you recall, last winter was significantly colder than normal and we're expecting a return to more seasonable weather. The good news is that the district's rates are at their lowest level in years. If you couple a five percent rate reduction when we expect moderate weather, we have a great opportunity for lower gas bills."

"We want to remind our customers that energy conservation also helps reduce gas bills. The district provides free safety inspections and pilot lightings during this time of the year and we also encourage our customers to take the time to improve insulation, weather stripping, to change their filters, and to keep their thermostats at the lowest possible comfort level. For every degree you lower your thermostat, you save about 3% on your heating bill".

"We're committed to providing quality service and we're well prepared to serve our customers with an abundant supply of clean burning and reliable natural gas. We appreciate our customers and with winter just around the corner, we encourage them to call us at 597-4388 to schedule a free pilot lighting, if they need it, or a safety inspection, if they'd like or to be able to help them with any of their appliance needs before the winter sets in."