COLUMBUS, Ind. — Multiple agencies are searching for a missing 11-year-old girl who was in the East Fork White River and went underwater and did not resurface.
The incident was reported at 6:39 p.m. and multiple first responders, including the Columbus Fire Department, Columbus police, the Department of Natural Resources and Bartholomew County Water Rescue are at the scene.
The family of the child is from Columbus, according to first responders, and the family has told searchers the girl did not know how to swim.
First responders arrived quickly and were provided a location of the last known point where the child was last seen. First responders noted the river water is murky and those who enter the river often cannot see the bottom of the river. The bottom of the river as it goes through Mill Race Park has shallow areas that give way to deep pools of water that individuals can lose contact with the bottom with one step. It also has trees and other debris along the bottom that cannot be seen from the surface.
Responders deployed numerous boats from the Columbus Fire Department and Bartholomew County Water Rescue Team to search the last known location and downstream portion of the river.
Four boats are currently searching the river, said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman.
The river currently does have some current, and the area where the child disappeared is believed to be about 10 feet deep, first responders said.
A Columbus Regional Health ambulance did assist an adult male who was at the scene searching for the child after she disappeared and he is in stable condition, according to first responders.
Operations are ongoing at this time.
