12:05 p.m. Thursday update
Emergency responders are using drone technology to search for a Taylorsville man who was last seen Wednesday, when he told a younger brother that he was considering going kayaking on a local river.
Keygan Matlock, 26, was reported missing Thursday morning by his family, said Jet Quillen, a conservation officer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division. The DNR and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Water Rescue Unit are searching for Matlock in an area of the Driftwood River behind his home.
Matlock is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a construction jacket with “C-tech” on the back and reflection tags, and a black-and-yellow stocking cap.
Matlock has a blue, yellow and black kayak.
He was last seen at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at his home, in the 3900 block of Deer Court, Taylorsville, in the Tannehill Mobile Home Court. That’s west of Interstate 65 in the vicinity of Heflin Park.
Matlock’s home backs up to the Driftwood River, but search teams are unsure whether the man went kayaking in the Driftwood or Flatrock rivers.
Quillen said the search for Matlock would initially be conducted by air, since it’s too dangerous for water-rescue crews to enter the Driftwood River, which is 4.5 feet above flood stage. The conservation officer said a lot of debris is floating down the river.
Two DNR drones and two others from Wayne Township and Indianapolis fire departments are being used in the search, Quillen said.
The DNR is hoping that Matlock could be clinging to a tree, or is with his kayak somewhere on the river, Quillen said. However, they don’t know where he may have entered the river.
“We did come over and impress on him that this wasn’t a good idea, as cold as it was and as high as the river way,” Carson Yoder, Matlock’s stepfather, said he told his stepson on Wednesday.
“What fooled him (Keygan) is it doesn’t look that dangerous (near Keygan’s home). But it’s not like that further out,” Yoder said.
Matlock, who is not currently employed, has had his kayak for about three years, Yoder said.
Kayaking has been a passion between them, the stepfather said.
Matlock did have a cell phone with him, which pinged Wednesday on Tellman Road, near Indianapolis Road in Columbus, an area where high water has been reported. Tellman Road is closed because of high water at County Road 200W.
Matlock is the father of a 6-year-old daughter with girlfriend Kyla Heslop, the family said. They are expecting a second child in about nine weeks.
Matlock attended Taylorsville Elementary, Northside Middle School and Columbus North High School, his family said.
Original posting
The Bartholomew County and Indiana Conservation Office are currently searching for a Keygan Matlock, 26, who has been reported missing.
Investigators said it is possible he attempted to kayak the Driftwood River in a blue, yellow, black kayak near the Taylorsville area.
It is unknown if he went in the Flatrock River or the Driftwood River.
Matlock is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a bright yellow jacket and black and yellow stocking cap.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Indiana Department of Natural Resources law enforcement division at 812-837-9536.
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