Body shop owner believed to have drowned
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 11 years, 4 months AGO
The owner of a Post Falls auto body shop is missing and believed to have drowned Saturday in Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Gary Scott "Scotty" Shawver, 57, is reported to have jumped into the lake near Stevens Point, south of Tubbs Hill, shortly before 7:30 p.m. He was attempting to retrieve an item that fell from a boat he was in, and was not wearing a life jacket at the time. Shawver was unable to make it back to the boat.
Marine and dive units from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office responded, but were unable to locate Shawver. The water depth in the area is roughly 140 feet.
The sheriff's SONAR team will continue searching today.
Shawver was a partial owner until last December of Body by Scotty on Third Street in Post Falls. The shop is known for annual block parties held on the site for 18 years. The party was canceled last year after the event grew too large, with an estimated 4,000 people attending.
He opened a new business earlier this year, Scott Shawver's Autobody and RV, 2915 Seltice Way, Post Falls, with his fiancee, Stephanie Knox, and sister, Tracy Christopherson.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction in Shawver's business ownership.