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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Search for flood victims slows

Debris hampers efforts to find missing campers

A van is propped against a tree at Albert Pike campground near Caddo Gap, Ark., Saturday after a flash flood early Friday.  (Associated Press)
Andrew Demillo Associated Press

LANGLEY, Ark. – The search for nearly two dozen people who disappeared after flash floods swept through a popular campground went from desperate to grim on Saturday after teams that scoured miles of river and rugged wilderness found just two bodies.

The last time someone was found alive was late Friday morning, hours after a predawn wall of water surprised sleeping campers at the Albert Pike Recreation Area, leaving them frantically trying to scramble up the steep terrain in the dark.

As the swollen rivers subsided and the hours ticked by Saturday, anguished relatives waiting for word of loved ones grew more and more frustrated, lashing out at reporters, knowing that at some point the search mission would become one of recovery.

“They’re just devastated. The time for shock has probably gone and now it’s just anxiety building. They’re beginning to fear the worst,” said Graig Cowart, pastor of the Pilgrim Rest Landmark Missionary Baptist Church.

At least six of the 18 people confirmed killed were young children, according to a list released by Gov. Mike Beebe’s office publicly identifying 15 of them. Among them were five people, including three children, from Gloster, La., as well as three others from that state and six from Texas.

State police said Saturday evening that there were 22 people missing.

Search crews were called in around 8 p.m. Saturday but planned to resume their work around 6:30 a.m. today.

The only Arkansas victim identified was Leslie Jez, a 23-year-old mother and wife from Foreman whose husband, Adam Jez, was listed as among those who survived the flood.

“So ready to go camping this weekend,” she wrote on her Facebook page Monday. “Kaden is going to love it!!” She later added, “Not looking foward to that cold water, but sounds like I might change my mind after seeing how hot it’s supposed to be.”

Authorities haven’t said whether the child survived.

About 200 searchers combed some 20 miles of wilderness along the receding rivers on Saturday. Crews on kayaks and canoes scanned the thick brush and debris in the swollen Caddo and Little Missouri rivers for bodies, but experts say many of those killed could be trapped under fallen trees and rocks and that the river water likely won’t be clear enough to see through for several days.

Tom Collins, a Spring Hill volunteer firefighter, said the debris in the water was frustrating their attempts to recover bodies and that there were so many fallen trees that it looked like a “beaver dam.”

“It’s just a tangled mess,” Collins said.

Other searchers rode out on horseback and ATVs to scan the heavily wooded area and rocky crags along the rivers, where debris hung as high as 25 feet up in tree branches. Cell phone service and visibility from the air in the heavily wooded area are very poor, hampering search efforts. Portable cell towers were dispatched to the area in the hope that stranded survivors would be able to call for help.

Beebe said many of those missing are people whose relatives called saying they believed they were camping in the area, but weren’t sure. He said officials are running the license plate numbers of vehicles found in the area to try to contact their owners.

Floodwaters rose as swiftly as 8 feet per hour, pouring through the remote valley with such force that it peeled asphalt from roads and bark off trees. Cabins dotting the river banks were severely damaged, and mobile homes lay on their sides.

Forecasters had warned of the approaching danger in the area during the night, but campers could easily have missed those advisories because the area is isolated.