COLUMBUS, Ind. — The search of the East Fork White River near Mill Race Park for a missing 11-year-old girl is set to resume this morning, according to first responders. Search efforts have now transitioned to a recovery, according to searchers. Mill Race Park will be closed to the public Wednesday during search operations.
At approximately 6:39 p.m. Tuesday, first responders were called to Mill Race Park for a water rescue involving a missing child last seen in the East Fork of the White River. Columbus Police officers arrived on the scene and were advised by bystanders that a child was swept away and bystanders lost sight of her.
Columbus firefighters and the Bartholomew County Water Rescue Team soon arrived on the scene and launched three boats to search the river. Search operations were conducted into the dark over a period of four hours and including dive operations.
Columbus firefighters, police, the Department of Natural Resources and the Bartholomew County Water Rescue team worked at the scene Tuesday night.
First responders said the family of the 11-year-old is from Columbus, and also told the searchers the girl did not know how to swim. She was not wearing a life jacket, according to information first responders received.
On Tuesday night, first responders received information about the 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.
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.
