Man Reported Missing After Lake Texoma Rescue Attempt Near Buncombe Creek

By GvilleTX Newsroom

A man was reported missing Friday evening in Lake Texoma near Buncombe Creek after several people entered the water to help a woman who had fallen from a boat, according to Marshall County Sheriff Donald Yow in a report by KXII. The search brought law enforcement and dive resources to a public boating and camping access point on the Oklahoma side of the lake.

Yow said his office received a call that one person was missing in the lake after the others went in to assist the woman, KXII reported. The account available Saturday did not identify the missing man, the woman, the other people involved or the boat. It also did not give an exact time for the call or say what caused the woman to go overboard.

KXII reported that Oklahoma Lake Patrol was called to the scene and that the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department dive team was headed to assist Lake Patrol and the sheriff's office. The station also reported emergency vehicles staged in the Buncombe Creek area and said its crew saw boats still on the lake after sunset.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol told KXII that crews had searched for about two hours and would resume in the morning if the person was not found before sundown. The public Marshall County sheriff's page checked for this report did not show a separate Buncombe Creek incident notice; it lists Donald Yow as sheriff and provides dispatch and records contacts for the office.

Buncombe Creek is an official recreation area within Lake Texoma. Recreation.gov lists the campground on the northern side of the lake, with 54 campsites, paved access, drinking water, showers, toilets, two boat ramps, a dock and a dump station. The federal boat-ramp pass page places the ramp at 1010 West Buncombe Creek Road in Willis, Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol page for Troop W identifies it as the agency's Marine Enforcement Division. That division serves Oklahoma lakes and recreation areas and handles search-and-rescue missions, boating-accident investigations and drowning-incident investigations, according to the state Department of Public Safety. The same state page says the OHP Dive Team is trained for recoveries involving drownings, boating incidents, vehicles, evidence and other cases in Oklahoma waters.

The Buncombe Creek area also appears in recent state transportation records. Oklahoma Transportation Commission agenda materials from June 2025 show Marshall County commissioners sought a Lake Texoma access project for the Buncombe Creek public-use area. The planned work runs from US 377 east along West Buncombe Creek Road to the Corps-owned campground, with state Transportation Department participation capped at $400,000.

No official release reviewed for this report gave a final outcome in the search.