Dive team recovers unoccupied vehicle from Spring Creek west of Persia

 

A vehicle pulled from Spring Creek on Thursday afternoon west of Persia was unoccupied, according to the incident commander for the Midwest Regional Dive Team. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation remains open, and no name has been released.

The Harrison County Dispatch Center received a call at 11:03 a.m. Thursday, October 1, reporting that a vehicle may have been driven into a washed-out section of 296th Street just west of Persia, and that a person was unaccounted for, the sheriff’s office said in a statement reported by area news outlets. KETV identified the same stretch as County Road F-58.

Deputies found the road damaged near a culvert, with a large gap across the traveled portion. The sheriff’s office said the damage is believed to have happened in the early morning hours after heavy rain overnight. Harrison County was under a flash flood warning from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Law enforcement searched by drone, UTV and on foot and located a vehicle submerged in Spring Creek south of the damaged roadway. The vehicle was removed from the creek. Assisting agencies listed by the sheriff’s office were the Harrison County Dispatch Center, Harrison County Emergency Management, Persia Fire and Rescue, Portsmouth Fire and Rescue, the Midwest Regional Dive Team, and Dave Lyon Towing.

 

Kenny Hamman, who said he served as incident commander for the Midwest Regional Dive Team on the call, described the response Friday morning in an interview on KCSI Radio.

Hamman said Harrison County Emergency Management requested the team after searchers became fairly sure a car was in Spring Creek. He placed the washout on 296th Street just west of Persia, about a half-mile from the county shop at the bottom of the hill. He said a deputy told him the general area received about five to six inches of rain, with possibly more to the north.

Hamman said that around 5 a.m. Thursday, a separate vehicle coming from the west crossed the washout. That vehicle was badly damaged, he said, and that crossing is how officials learned the road was out. He asked that early times be treated as approximate.

He said that around 9 a.m., authorities were told a person who lived in the area and worked in the Omaha area had not reported for work. Hammond asked not to be quoted on the specific workplace. Portsmouth Fire Chief Michael Leinen told KETV the missing man travels that stretch every morning on the way to work and did not arrive. Officials have not released a name or photo.