16-year-old boy killed in tragic boating incident

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (KBSI) — A 16-year-old boy from Poplar Bluff died after being ejected from a tube being pulled by a boat on a private pond near County Road 465.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The boy was struck by a partially submerged log in the pond after being thrown from the tube.

He was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and then flown to Region One Medical Center in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 6:43 a.m. Wednesday.

The incident is being investigated as Troop E’s first boating fatality of 2025.