Search for missing canoeist KDFW

[B]Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources News[/B]


[B]Search for missing canoeist in Big South Fork of the Cumberland River enters seventh day[/B]

Search teams entered their seventh day looking for a McCreary County man whose canoe overturned last week on the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River near Alum Ford. Tim Godfrey, 29, an employee of the Daniel Boone Job Corps, disappeared into the rain-swollen river April 13 after the canoe he shared with two others overturned in the rapids.
Joshua Breeding, 26, of McCreary County, and Chad Harbough, 27, of Waynesburg, Penn., both Iraq war veterans, made it safely to shore. They walked about two miles before finding some campers who telephoned for help.
Search teams have been diligent, working around additional heavy rains, high winds and the rising and falling water of the river.
The effort includes search dog teams from Tennessee and Calloway County, underwater camera crews from Wayne and Pulaski counties, and side-scan sonar operators from Wayne and Pulaski counties. Search crews from Somerset and Kentucky Emergency Management are also on site. They are assisting the U.S. Park Service, National Forest Service and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources personnel in the search for Godfrey.
Godfrey, Breeding and Harbough launched their canoe into the swift current of the Big South Fork last Wednesday at the Yamacraw Bridge in McCreary County. There were no life jackets in the canoe.

Personally, I find the amount of time it is taking to retrieve the body quite embarrassing. Even one of the survivors, who is also a soldier, remarked how surprised he was at the length of the retrieval mission.

My thoughts go to the poor family of the deceased, knowing his precise position but not being able to lay him to rest after so long.

DAVE

Obviously his "precise position" is NOT known, or his body would have been recovered. By now he's probably several miles downstream. They have a very large area to cover, and given the conditions, it's no surprise that they're having difficulty finding him.

The news reported earlier in the week that they had found his body but could not access it. I'll see if I can find a confirmation report.

DAVE

OK, I was both right and wrong! There was an initial report that said they had found the body but that was later withdrawn apparently. Here's the latest report on LEX18.com:

"Crews continue to search for a missing McCreary County canoeist


Park rangers say they initially thought they spotted Tim Godfrey, 29, but now believe dogs picked up on a scent that was not his. As of Monday, officials say the body has not been spotted or found. Godfrey went missing last Wednesday when his canoe capsized on the Cumberland River. Two other people fishing with Godfrey when the canoe tipped were able to swim to safety. High, fast running water have hampered search efforts."


DAVE