Community mourns boater killed on river

A Calhoun County family is mourning the loss of their loved one.
The body of Jefferie Rector was found Monday morning in the Apalachicola River.
He had been missing since Saturday.
The family is stricken with grief. Jeff Rector was just 28 when he lost his life. 
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Rector was with 29-year-old Mark Hamilton of Marianna when their boat hit a wake and threw them from the vessel.
Hamilton was rescued.
As Rector’s sister Debbie Smith flips through family pictures, she recalls the memories of her brother. “When you raise a child ... you come to love them like your own and he was like my son,” she said.
He was more than her brother; he was her second son.
When Rector was out on the river, the unexpected happened.  Because he did not have on the kill-switch, the motor didn’t turn off and he was hit by the propeller.
“It was just God’s plan for it to happen that day ... he was very athletic.  He was a good swimmer.  He’s worked on the water for ten years. It’s still hard to know we’re not going to see his beautiful smile,” his sister said. “But he would want everyone to remember that he was having fun.”
Rector grew up in Blountstown and loved the river.
“Boating ... playing on the river ... that was one of his hobbies. When he’d come home and get with all his friends,” she said.
The community came out to help with the search.
“If he could see down here he would be so happy to see all the people that care about him and how good they were,” his sister said. “Four counties come together to help us find him.”
He has two children who live in Louisiana with their mother. They are 6 and 8. 
The memories are what will get his family and friends through it.
“He was such a fun loving person,” Smith said. “Everybody that met him loved him because he had that smile and that twinkle in his eyes.  He was just a pretty boy that loved life.”
Rector worked as a crane operator on oil rigs in Louisiana ,but his permanent residence was in Blountstown.
The funeral is today at 2 p.m.