Search underway for Lakeview man missing after Bull Shoals Lake fishing trip

Search crews and family members were looking for 48-year-old Mark Hanes of Lakeview after he failed to return from a Friday night fishing trip on Bull Shoals Lake.

Hanes left about 5 p.m. Friday to go fishing and was last seen after dark, according to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission senior corporal and game warden Lyndle Crownover. Family members later found Hanes’ truck and trailer at the Howard Creek boat ramp near Bull Shoals Lake, but Hanes was not with the vehicle.

The search was underway in Baxter County, where Bull Shoals Lake sits as a major stretch of water used by anglers and boaters throughout the region. Hanes’ disappearance quickly became a public safety concern because he had not come home after dark and his vehicle was left behind at the ramp, leaving investigators and family members with a narrow window for tracing where he may have gone on the water.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was part of the public account of the case through Crownover, while the state’s missing-persons system was also being used to keep the information current. Arkansas’ missing-persons database was upgraded in June 2025 to provide real-time updates, a change that allows new entries and status changes to appear faster in cases where time matters.

Hanes’ case added to a tense search on a lake where conditions can shift quickly, especially after dusk. For anyone on Bull Shoals Lake, the key details were straightforward and urgent: a 48-year-old Lakeview man, a Friday evening fishing trip, a truck and trailer at Howard Creek boat ramp, and no sign of Hanes when family members reached the site.