Search called off for possible missing persons in Elliston Park pond
Posted May 27, 2012 8:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A search for persons who possibly disappeared in the pond at Elliston Lake Park was called off Sunday morning after fire department boats and divers scoured the man-made lake for bodies overnight.
They combed the pond following a claim by a wet, shivering, 24-year-old man, found on the shore in the Forest Lawn area park around 2:40am, that he believed his friends were still in the water.
“He was with others at the time,” Duty Inspector Paul Stacey tells 660News, “and” (said) “there may be others still in the water. We couldn’t find anybody in the area. We did find a piece of woman’s clothing nearby, but we” (were) “not sure if it’s related or not. But erring on the side of caution, we called out the Fire Department.”
“They brought out divers,” Stacey continues. “They brought out a boat and they were scouring the pond or lake looking for a second body.”
Given the very inebriated state of the young man, police had doubts about the story from the outset, and finally the water search was called off around 7am, Sunday.
“What it looks like is, this individual was out partying, or doing something, and went in the water, was dragged out by his friends,” says Stacey. “And they left him there at the side of the pond. And of course with his state of sobriety, he wasn’t sure what happened.”
Police even utilized the HAWCS helicopter during their middle of the night investigation, utilizing infra-red equipment on the chopper to scan the lake.
