Search Turns To Recovery Mission For Missing Boater
Drift Boat Tipped Over, Two In Boat Made It To Shore
POSTED: 8:01 pm MDT September 1, 2010UPDATED: 10:51 am MDT September 3, 2010BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho -- Bonneville County rescue crews told Local News 8 the search for a missing fishing guide has turned into a recovery effort.Sergeant Jeff Edwards with the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office said three people in a drift boat going down the river got caught up in some willows and tipped over.Crews are searching for Robert Merrill, of Victor, on the Snake River in Swan Valley. The search initially began around 6:30 p.m. Friday, it was suspended at 9:20 p.m.About 50 rescuers were in the water on boats and jet skis searching for the guide. An Air Idaho helicopter was back in the air around noon, Thursday.Karl Casperson with Bonneville County said crews are not using sonar because of the shallow water. They are using search and rescue dogs to determine where the divers will search, he said."This is crucial because we can narrow the area of search for the divers. It's very dangerous for the divers to be in the water. The current is really strong. By having the dogs narrow it down, they have to be in the water less," said Mary Anderson, search and rescue dog handler.Merrill was last seen wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt and waders. Casperson said waders, like the ones Merrill was wearing, can fill up quickly with water and drag someone below the surface.Casperson said Merrill was not wearing a life vest."It is another one of those things. Nobody expects to go in the water when they are up there doing these things. Personal flotation devices make all the difference in the world and I believe it would have been in this case, too," said Casperson.Robert George and Barbara Roberts from Florida, who were in the boat, made it to shore. But, the 49-year-old guide is still missing, Edwards said.
Casperson said crews have found a boat near the Snake River Bridge and Spring Creek Boat Dock, but they do not know if it is the boat that flipped spilling the three people into the river.The Florida couple were treated by Swan Valley Ambulance and released.Witnesses say they saw the boat tipped near the Spring Creek boat ramp which is at mile marker 374 on U.S. Highway 26.
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