Crews are searching for a missing Washington County man along the Monongahela River, using high-tech equipment to assist them.<\/p>\n
They are focused on a stretch of the river in the city of Monongahela under the city’s bridge.<\/p>\n
Shelby Rhodes, 26, was last seen a week ago, when the river was still covered in ice. Crews are searching the river near a spot where he was last seen, and near where his phone was found next to a canoe on the riverbank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s been an all-out effort to try to recover or find the gentleman that’s missing,” said Monongahela City Fire Chief Aaron Leezer.<\/p>\n
Saturday was their second day of searching, he said. They have looked on the riverbanks, but are currently focused underwater, where he said visibility has been low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They are using an aerial drone, sonar equipment, and underwater drones that teams from Elizabeth provided.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’re like really small submarines, basically, and they have cameras and everything on them, and they can go under and, seeing what we can’t see under the ice,” Leezer said.<\/p>\n
Crews did not detect anything that warranted further investigation until 4 p.m. Saturday. They sent divers in, but they didn’t find anything. At that point, they were running out of sunlight. They plan to return at 8 a.m. Sunday, Leezer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Honestly, I’m trying to stay positive as much as I can,” Jessica Rhodes, Shelby’s sister, said.<\/p>\n
She believes Shelby is still out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m very hopeful he is. If they found nothing for this many hours, where is he?” Jessica Rhodes said. “If you are seeing this, please, please, please, come up.”<\/p>\n
She said there are so many people worried about him, wanting to help him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I want to call him a nomad,” Jessica Rhodes said. “He has a heart of gold. He’s a sensitive guy.”<\/p>\n