Rescue crews searching for missing 12-year-old girl who went missing while swimming
UPDATE: (Sunday afternoon) - The search continued Sunday for a young girl who went missing while swimming Saturday night near the Huntley Diversion Dam.
Emergency crews responded to Tunnel 1 at the Huntley Project Irrigation District around 6 p.m. Saturday after a 12-year-old girl was reported missing while swimming through the water-filled tunnel with friends. Crews searched the area until after 10 p.m. when Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said it became too dark to continue.
Sheriff Linder said they resumed searching Sunday before 7 a.m. Sheriff Linder said deputies, members of the Worden Fire Department, workers from the ditch company and volunteers searched the area. Dogs were also brought in. Divers from the U.S. Water Rescue team search the ditch using underwater cameras. An airplane searched the area from above.
As of 9:00 p.m., Sheriff Linder said crews are searching the Ballantine area, about 10 miles away from where the girl went missing, where equipment in the canal would make it hard for anything to float past. He said a deputy will be stationed in that area all night, along with other volunteers.
"Nobody's going to give up hope until we know for sure," Sheriff Linder said.
HUNTLEY, Mont. - Rescue crews continue to search for a 12-year-old girl after she was reported missing while swimming with friends.
Yellowstone County Sheriff's Sgt. Ryan Taylor said they received the call about 6 p.m. Saturday. Taylor said the girl was swimming in the canal near Tunnel 1 of the Huntley Project Irrigation District with three or four friends. The group swam into the water-filled tunnel and out the other side when they lost sight of the girl.
Rescue crews responded to the scene, including divers, the Worden Fire Department and sheriff's office. Taylor said crews shut the canal off and lowered the water levels from around 11 ft. to between 4-6 ft. Divers searched the tunnel but were unable to find the girl.
A helicopter arrived at the scene around 8:30 p.m. to search the open areas. Divers searched down the waterway and through open tunnels as safety allowed.
Taylor said the water in that area is swift moving. He said people are not supposed to use the canal for swimming.
Taylor said they will keep searching as long as they can. But as of 10:15 p.m., Taylor said they were going to have to release the water soon.
(Note: The story continued, but I was not in charge of the story past this point.)