James Mercer, 70, and Francis Blossom, 74, of Pahrump, died in an apparent boating accident on Friday.

The National Park Service said the wife of one of the men reported the two boaters missing when they were late returning home. Their bodies were recovered Saturday from Lake Mohave in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The two boaters departed from Cottonwood Cove, on the Nevada side of Lake Mohave, at about 8 a.m., in a 12-foot aluminum boat. Rangers said Mercer was found near Tamarisk Cove at 9:30 a.m. Blossom was discovered near Nine Mile Cove at 4:30 p.m.

Rangers searched by boat and the Arizona Department of Public Safety assisted by helicopter until late Friday night and resumed at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.