Search efforts for a missing kayaker in Paint Creek have stretched into a third day.
Officials say they will pickup the search for a man who was last seen toppling out of a kayak along Paint Creek and swimming to shore, before being swept under by rough currants; he did not resurface. Friends with the man called 9-1-1 to report his disappearance on Sunday.
Divers and search crews from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ross County Sheriff’s office searched from 10 a.m. to about 6 p.m. Monday. They will resume Tuesday, according to an ODNR spokeswoman.
“They have ended search efforts for this evening and plan to resume tomorrow morning. We are confident he is missing in the river,” said ODNR spokeswoman Sarah Wickham.
The man went missing Sunday evening at around 5 p.m. with no apparent signs of his whereabouts. His cell phone was “pinged” in the area of Rapid Forge Road and route 50, which is the last place the man’s friends saw him before he went under.
Crews are primarily focused on a few miles of waterway in Paint Creek, mostly between Rapid Forge Road and route 41.
His name has not been released.