DNR discusses search for body reported in Deer Creek
DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) – Just after 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said deputies responded to a call about a body floating face down in the Deer Creek.
Leazenby said the call was made by a third party. The person who claimed to have seen the body didn’t speak English and needed a translator to relay the information to another Delphi resident, who then called police.
“Really the biggest part of it was based upon the detailed physical description that was provided to us concerning how they described that body,” said Leazenby.
Deputies said someone was standing on a suspension bridge in Riley Park in Delphi when they reportedly saw a man’s body with shoulder length dark hair floating down the creek toward the Hamilton Street Bridge.
“The person only saw the body for a short period of time,” said DNR Lt. Dan Dulin. “We were able to put our boat in a flooded area near the Water Works Department.”
Dulin said officers searched the area between the Hamilton Street Bridge and Old State Road 25, but a body was not found.
He said it’s possible the body may have floated through Delphi to the Wabash River, but he said high water levels and a strong current complicated the search.
“There are numerous significant obstructions like log jams between the Old SR 25 Bridge and where the person last saw the body float past,” said Dulin. “So it’s also a good possibility that the individual is hung up between SR 25 and the last point seen.”
Deputies checked with law enforcement in surrounding counties, but no one has been reported missing. Due to the dangers posed by the high water, the search was suspended.
“We don’t have anything better to go on right now than a third party call,” said Dulin. “Also with the water levels, it’s pretty dangerous for the officers to be out there without an actual point to begin searching.”
Dulin said DNR will continue to check river banks and low-lying areas until the creek levels go down, but could not say if or when another search would begin.