River now focus in hunt for boy, 4; two shirts found

— The sheriff leading the hunt for a 4-year-old boy last seen Saturday by the South Fork River near Cherokee Village called off groundsearches Tuesday evening and will now focus strictly on the river.

Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley said searchers found two shirts Tuesday afternoon belonging to CalebLinn, 4, of Springdale about 400 yards downstream from a South Fork River bridge where the boy was last seen.

The sheriff said “there is a chance” he is still alive, but he doubted anyone could survivea fall into the surging river.

The boy disappeared Saturday while a group of youngsters cleaned debris off a lowwater bridge near the Camp Kia Kima Boy Scout camp just northwest of CherokeeVillage.

Witnesses told authorities that several of the youngsters left the bridge and began walking back to their campsite when Caleb said he want-ed to go with them.

He disappeared about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, prompting a search by more than 200 law enforcement officers and volunteers the past four days, said Jan Cantrell, a Fulton County sheriff’s office dispatcher.

Foley said Tuesday that cadaver dogs from Memphis detected a scent along the river and that divers found two shirts that Caleb’s parents, Randy and Amanda Muir, confirmed were his.

“We’re moving the ground crews to a water rescue search,” Foley said at a Tuesday evening news conference.

The South Fork River is a tributary of the Spring River, which begins at Mammoth Spring and winds its way to the Black River near Black Rock. The Spring River is known for its recreational opportunities, but when heavy rains come, the river quickly floods.

Waters were high during the weekend after rain in the area, authorities said. The river has dropped about 3 feet since then, Foley said.

“A grown person couldn’t have survived it [Saturday],” Foley said of the chance of someone surviving a fall into the river.

Hardy Police Chief Ernie Rose, who helped with the search during the weekend, said the river was raging Saturday.

“It takes all the water from all the way to Salem,” he said, referring to the Fulton County seat about 15 miles to the northwest. Rose oversaw the search for two people killed during flash flooding along the Spring River in September 2006.

“It’s going down fast, but it was really up Saturday,” he said.

Teams have searched for Caleb by foot, vehicle and helicopter.

Mel Coleman, a Fulton County sheriff’s office reserve deputy, said a team found Caleb’s orange and green shirts about 2 p.m. Tuesday.

“They are searching every possible area,” he said, as a helicopter roared over his head.

Foley said divers will use a camera to search under a shelf along the South Fork River that is too small for divers to crawl into.

He said crews will focus on an area about 500 feet downstream from the debriscleared bridge at first. If Caleb isn’t found, Foley will extend the search to a 2.5-mile radius of the bridge, he said.

Manila Police Chief Jackie Hill spent the weekend assisting, and members of his police force remained there Tuesday.

He said he was motivated by an April 1998 tornado that struck his Mississippi County town and killed two children.

“When we had that tornado, we had help,” he said. “We couldn’t have made it without all that help.

“We never turn down anyone after that,” Hill said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/28/2012

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