Nine-hour search for missing man, son suspended for weather conditions

Divers spent almost nine hours Thursday in the Chattahoochee River but weren’t successful in locating a man and his 4-year-old son who disappeared Wednesday south of Lake Oliver Dam.

In an area described as a minefield of rocks, tree roots and poor visibility, divers concentrated their search north of the J.R. Allen Parkway bridge and about 250 yards from the dam, said Battalion Chief Bryan Watson of the Columbus Department of Fire & Emergency Medical Services. Rain in the forecast forced divers to suspend the search at 5 p.m. They planned to return at about 7:30 to 8 a.m. Friday.

“We are wrapping up our last search pattern now, and we will be getting our guys out of the water,” Watson said at 4 p.m. “We are still looking. We’ve got some divers who have been in the water all day.”

Georgia Power restricted the flow on the river while five divers and three boats were searching for the man and his son, who disappeared about 6:06 p.m. Wednesday. Georgia Department of Natural Resources provided aerial surveillance from a helicopter and also used a boat with sonar.

Conditions beneath the cloudy water made the search difficult. “It was described to me as a minefield trying to navigate divers,” Watson said. “They are not navigating a clear bottom. They are operating where they have no visibility and they are trying to feel their way around.”

The water temperature in the river is about 58 degrees and drops to the low 50s after you go 20 feet down. “Guys have been in the water since 8:30 this morning,” he said.

Divers encountered rock after rock and tree roots. “There is no visibility,” Watson said. “Visibility was cut to about 18 inches. Now you are talking about what you see in front of your face.”

DNR Sgt. Jeremy Bolen said low cloud cover hindered the observation from the air. “It made it a little more difficult to see from the air down into the water,” he said. “On a nice clear day, we are going to continue to operate with aerial surveillance, probably twice a day for the next several days.”

With a second day on the river, Watson said the divers went from rescue to recovery mode. “We have searched the banks, the helicopter has been in the air all day,” he said. “We are pretty much in a recovery mode.”

Watson said the man and his son were in an area where they are legally allowed to fish. “They were not in the water,” said. “They were on the bank where they could legally to be. Looks like it was an unfortunate accident. It was a fall and somebody got in the water.”

Watson said people should be concerned about safety anytime they are on the river. “This water here is moving, and it can be very violent at times,” he said. “It may look calm on the surface but it’s got tremendous undertow to it. It seems to be very calm but can change when these gates come open and they start generating.”

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Nine-hour search for missing man, son suspended for weather conditions."