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Family donates electronic searching equipment to SCDNR in memory of fisherman May 3, 2017

The family of the late Mitchell Don Gibson, a commercial fisherman who was lost on Lake Russell in March 2016, donated three Lowrance digital side-scanning imaging units to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to help the agency search for drowning victims.

The family of the late Mitchell Don Gibson, a commercial fisherman who was lost on Lake Russell in March 2016, displays the three Lowrance digital side-scanning imaging units that were donated to South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Region One Law Enforcement to help officers search for drowning victims.

The family of the late Mitchell Don Gibson, a commercial fisherman who was lost on Lake Russell in March 2016, displays the three Lowrance digital side-scanning imaging units that were donated to South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Region One Law Enforcement to help officers search for drowning victims.

A plaque on one of the Lowrance units says: "Dedicated in memory of a Fisherman, Mitchell Don Gibson, to SCDNR Region 1. Thank you for the dedication and compassion that was shown to the family of a fisherman who traded in his net for a set of gold wings and a fishing pole."

The equipment donated to SCDNR by the Gibson family is a great improvement over the equipment previously used by the state agency. The family hopes it will help SCDNR in future efforts to locate drowning victims, which will in turn make it easier on the families of the victims.

"Our intention is that no other family has to wait seven and a half months to bring their loved one home," said Jenny Pierce, a spokesperson for the family.

To help other families who are going through a similar experience, the Gibson family has started the Upstate South Carolina Crime Victims' Advocates organization. The Upstate South Carolina Crime Victims' Advocates was created by Mitchell's sister, Kelly Johnson, and Jenny Pierce to help victims understand tools available to them during a time of tragedy or need. This new organization can be found on Facebook.

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