DELPHI, Ind. – There have been no signs of 4-year-old Owen Jones, three days after he was picked up and taken downstream Thursday evening after stepping into a swollen Deer Creek at Delphi’s Riley Park, Lt. Dan Dulin, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, said Sunday.
With boats still combing the creek again Sunday, after full, fruitless days Friday and Saturday, Dulin was warning people looking to help the search steer clear, as conditions worsen with two straight nights of storms since witnesses saw Owen being pulled into the current at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Dulin said Delphi was hit with 1 inch of rain early Sunday morning, with more rain hitting other parts of the area that drains into Deer Creek. He said the creek water is moving swiftly. Aside from that, it’s very muddy, making it impossible to see anything below the surface, Dulin said.
“Everyone involved with this tragedy wants to find Owen Jones,” Dulin said in a DNR update Sunday afternoon. “However, anyone searching the water without the proper training or equipment, in today’s conditions, will likely become a victim themselves.”
For four days, search boats carrying rescue teams equipped with sonar have been covering the water between Delphi’s Riley Park and the roughly three miles to the Wabash River. Since early Friday, Dulin said the search had transitioned to a recovery mission.
Riley Park is a popular spot, a few blocks away from the Carroll County Courthouse square, featuring ball diamonds and trails and picnic spots along Deer Creek. When the creek is down, it is not uncommon to see people wading in it.
Conservation officers reported that the initial investigation indicated that Owen was playing near Deer Creek when a witness saw him struggling in the water, and then being swept away. According to the DNR, the boy was last seen wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and blue shorts.
Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.
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The following story appeared Friday at jconline.com:
4-year-old Monticello boy swept away in flooded creek in Delphi, search continues
DELPHI, Ind. – A rescue effort, hampered by swift water from recent storms, continued late into the evening Friday as officers in three boats searched Deer Creek for a 4-year-old Monticello boy who was seen being swept away by the swollen creek Thursday evening at a Delphi park.
Witnesses at Riley Park in Delphi reported seeing Owen Jones, 4, of Monticello, caught up in the flooded creek around 6p.m. Thursday, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Conservation officers reported that the initial investigation indicated that Owen was playing near Deer Creek when a witness saw him struggling in the water, and then being swept away. According to the DNR, the boy was last seen wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and blue shorts.
DNR officers searched into the night Thursday by boat, using sonar, but did not find the boy. A helicopter also searched from the air for several hours Thursday.DNR conversation officer Lt. Dan Dulin told Journal & Courier on Friday morning that the search has transitioned into a recovery operation. By the time crews pulled out of the water at sunsetFriday, DNR had no reports of finding Owen.
Dulin said water rescue teams had planned to stay at it until dusk, roughly around 9:20 p.m., if they couldn’t find Owen. He said they’d be back at it Saturday, launching from a Wabash River ramp near Pittsburg as early as daylight would safely allow.
Few details about how Owen wound up in the water were available Friday.
Two DNR boats with side sonar equipment and a Tippecanoe County water rescue boat were searching Deer Creek, past the Hamilton Street bridge, about a half-mile downstream. A Tippecanoe County Sheriff Department drone also was searching from the air.
Dulin said teams were covering the entire stretch of the creek, from the Washington Street bridge at the park’s entrance to the Wabash River, roughly three miles downstream.
Dulin said the effort was difficult given the swift, muddy current. He said the water level hadn’t gone down as quickly as search teams had hoped on Friday.
“We’re continuing at this point to search in the area,” Dulin said.
Delphi police had part of the Monon trail system and a street across from Riley Park, a few blocks from the Carroll County Courthouse square, blocked off, allowing only family members who had gathered waiting for word of the search. Through the day, people stopped by the blocked entrance to deliver food and drinks to family and others waiting in a maintenance garage in Riley Park. Efforts to talk with family members weren’t immediately successful.
Conservation officers were urging the public not to get near Deer Creek to help with the search, given its flooded condition, as representatives from nearly a dozen law enforcement and aid organizations from Carroll and surrounding counties searched for Owen.
