Officers Search For Weekend Drowning Victims, Boy In Delphi Creek

ACROSS INDIANA — Indiana Conservation Officers are working on several weekend cases involving drownings, including trying to locate a male kayaker, identified as 58-year-old Stephen Pitts, from Indianapolis, who was reported missing Monday in the Tippecanoe River just south of the Norway Dam in White County. According to a release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, officers were called to the area of the river near Monticello at 8:20 a.m. Monday for a kayaker who was seen going under water and not resurfacing.

According to a release, investigators learned that three men were in the area to fish, and because of the recent rain, a lot of water is being released from the dam, and the water's force caused one kayak to capsize.

Indiana Conservation Officers are being assisted by the Monticello Fire Department, according to a release.

Officers are also continuing to search for a man that went missing in the White River Saturday. According to a release, the man has been identified as Terrance Williams, 52, of Indianapolis. DNR officials said officers will continue using sonar and other methods to try locating Williams, focusing their search efforts between the 16th street dam and Lake Indy boat ramp.

Officers said two witnesses called 911 at 5:45 p.m. Saturday and said they saw the man and his canoe floating in the White River north of the 16th Street dam, before they lost sight of him, presumably as he went under water. According to a release, the canoe and life jackets were recovered just south of the 16th Street dam.

In a separate incident, DNR officers said divers recovered the body of 31-year-old William Snoddy of Indianapolis, in about 30 feet of water in the Allen's Creek Bay area of Lake Monroe at 10 p.m. Sunday. According to a release, ICO dispatch received a call of an adult male that went under the water at approximately 3:30 p.m. Sunday, who had been swimming without a life jacket from the back of a boat that had been anchored in the bay. Officers searched with the help of side scan sonar and scuba divers to search for the victim, in addition to members of other departments.

An autopsy will be scheduled through Monroe County coroner’s office to determine the cause of death, according to a release.

More: Search For Missing Monticello Boy Continues In Delphi Creek: IDNR

Indiana Conservation Officers said they're continuing to search by boat in Deer Creek in Delphi Monticello four-year-old Owen Jones, who has been missing since Thursday.

The initial investigation revealed Jones – who was last seen wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and blue shorts – was playing near the creek, when a witness saw him struggling in the water before being swept away.

(Crews are searching for Owen Jones, 4, last seen being swept away in a Delphi park creek May 23, 2019. Photo credit: Indiana DNR)

According to a release, water conditions have deteriorated because of heavy rains this weekend, and areas around Delphi received approximately once inch of rain between Saturday night and Sunday morning, with heavier amounts of rain falling throughout the watershed areas of the creek (pictured below). Therefore, DNR said water conditions are now again very hazardous because aside from the strong current, the water is very muddy, making it impossible for rescuers to see anything below the surface.

(Photo credit: Indiana DNR)

"With these factors in mind, it is very important to understand how very dangerous it is for members of the community to be near, or enter into, the water with any intentions of helping with search efforts," DNR officials said, in a release sent to Patch. "Everyone involved with this tragedy wants to find Owen Jones. However, anyone searching the water without the proper training or equipment, in today’s conditions, will likely become a victim themselves."

For water safety tips, especially during this time of year in warm weather, visit the IN.gov DNR website, and check out: Wearing a Personal Floatation Device (PFD)

Patch will update this news as information comes in.