Crews stop recovery operations for man in river in Dayton

The identity of the adult male remains unknown at this time.

“The Dayton Fire Department would like to thank the many regional partners that assisted in this incident, including the Dayton Police Department, Five Rivers MetroParks Rangers, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Department Dive Team, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Clayton-Englewood-Union Fire Collaborative, Hamilton County Dive Team, Christian Aid Ministries, Texas EquuSearch, City of Dayton Department of Recreation, City of Dayton Department of Public Works, and Sunesis Construction,” French said.

The area of the water where the man is believed to be in is turbulent, with the water direction and velocity changing rapidly, McCoy said. Water levels are also rising and more rain is expected Friday, which is also impacting the recovery operation.

Dayton Fire Department crews searched the waters for about five hours Thursday after receiving a report of a man in the water at 3:58 p.m. Search operations were suspended by 9 p.m. due to the dark and safety concerns, French said.

The fire department deployed a full water rescue, including multiple boats. Crews searched nearby riverbanks and used sonar devices to help search. An underwater dive team was also requested from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Due to the water conditions and temperature, it was determined crews had about an hour and a half to make a water rescue, McCoy said. After that it transitioned to a recovery operation.

Construction work going on in the area has not impacted the search. McCloy said the construction crews have been an asset in helping locate the victim and were the ones who initially reported a man was in the water.

The fire department is investigating how the man ended up in the water, McCloy said.

Crewsremained at the scene until dark and resumed operations Saturday morning for the man.