By Chris Siron, Naheed Rajwani and Claire Ballor
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — An off-duty SMU police officer missing since he was swept into the flooded Turtle Creek early Tuesday is presumed dead, officials said.
The search for the officer, who was working an off-duty security job, initially focused on the area around Blackburn Street in Uptown.
In a news conference about 11 a.m., officials said they expanded the search to a two-mile area between Fitzhugh Avenue and the Trinity River. The search is being treated as a recovery effort instead of a rescue one, they said.
A Dallas Fire-Rescue team with sonar technology is trying to locate the officer, who lost contact with authorities shortly after 1:30 a.m. Water in the area has receded, which officials said will help with the search effort.
Authorities say they’re looking for a white Dodge Charger in Turtle Creek. Someone called them from inside earlier.
The officer, whose name was not released, was working a security job at a construction site near Turtle Creek and called a dispatcher to report his car was being moved by water as it came over his hood.
He appeared calm during the call and gave a good description of his location, officials said.
But Turtle Creek’s water level was alarmingly high -- and may have been 12 feet in some places -- when first responders arrived at the scene, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said. Fitzhugh Avenue was covered by water at the time.
As many as 40 searchers joined the rescue effort, but the officer and his white Dodge sedan had not been found by 11 a.m.
The vehicle is out and fits description of officers officer not found #DiveTeam the search continues @DallasPD pic.twitter.com/y1zfkHTkG1
— Vernon Hale♦ (@ChiefHaleDPD) July 5, 2016
The SMU campus is located about two miles north of the area where the officer went missing. SMU police officers and a spokeswoman stayed at the search site for several hours Tuesday morning, waiting for word on his condition.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with the officer’s family members and other loved ones as the search continues,” SMU police Chief Richard Shafer said in an email statement. “Respecting the sensitivity of family members, first, we will share more information as it becomes available.”
Terri Rossi, who walks along Turtle Creek every morning, said the creek’s water level was high about 6:45 a.m. Dead fish covered the sidewalk and an uprooted tree had apparently floated downstream.
Turtle Creek surged up over this bridge ripping out trees as it went pic.twitter.com/trSdqQvech
— Claire Ballor (@claireballor) July 5, 2016
“I’ve seen Turtle Creek get really high though, so this doesn’t surprise me,” Rossi said.
More than 3 inches of rain was reported Monday -- a record for the Fourth of July. The previous heaviest rainfall for the day was 1.3 inches in 2006. High winds also swept the area, with gusts overnight up to 60 mph reported at DFW International Airport.
Copyright 2016 The Dallas Morning News