Crews are continuing to search for a little boy who officials said fell into the flooded Tar River in Franklin County Monday evening.
Franklin County Emergency Services said they spent nearly seven hours searching the river for the child before suspending operations early Tuesday morning. Seventeen agencies returned later to resume searching for the boy in the Hodges Road area.
"Search teams battled tough terrain, cold water and swift currents," Franklin County Emergency Services said of initial search operations. The river's water levels were elevated from recent rains.
Tuesday, crews returned with four boats, two underwater drones, two aerial drones and divers.
Emergency Management Director Nicholas Thorpe called the operation a technical one with lots of challenges that include muddy banks, rocks and currents. Recent storms left debris and tree limbs in the water, but the water appeared to be receding Tuesday.
"There's a lot of mud from all the rain that we've gotten recently. So that's making it difficult to just get resources point A to point B, because, just with the mud, we had a quite a few vehicles stuck in the mud last night because of all of them. So that just hinders the whole operation,” Thorpe said.
The boy's family said it wasn't unusual for him to play on the river banks with his friends.
“We just want to say thank you. Please keep praying for family. It's a hard time, but God is faithful. And we we still holding on," family member Shirbartis Alston said.
Franklin County is northeast of Raleigh. The Tar River runs southeast through the county, including through the county seat of Louisburg.
"We want this individual found and brought home, and we will do everything we can to make that a reality," Franklin County Emergency Services posted.
