More than 50 volunteers including divers, at least two rescue dogs and a drone scoured the area around Slippery Rock Creek in McConnells Mill State Park on Sunday looking for a Meadville man who fell in the water while hiking Saturday.
The man was identified at Jeffery Hamby, 38, according to ranger supervisor Bryan Moore.
Officials called off the search for Hamby on Sunday evening, and it will resume Monday morning, Moore said.
Hamby was hiking with others Saturday when he slipped on a rock and into the water just downstream from the covered bridge, Moore said.
Emergency calls came in at 2:30 p.m. Saturday from the Lawrence County state park, where search crews quickly mobilized to find Hamby. On Sunday, about 85 searchers, mostly volunteers, focused on a four-and-a-half mile stretch of Slippery Rock Creek, from the Mill to just below Harris Bridge.
“We couldn’t do this without all of them. We are thankful,” Moore said.
It’s a challenging area to search because the water is running high and there are many eddies and hydraulics that need to be checked out, he said.
“The water can seem calm, but it’s deeper than it looks, and people underestimate the strong current,” he said.
“The creek is in a deep gorge with lots of rocks and big boulders, making it more difficult to see everything,” Moore added.
