Body of 4th tuber found, 1 still missing after group floats over North Carolina dam
Eden, North Carolina — The body of a fourth tuber has been found in a North Carolina river following a deadly accident in which a family on a recreational float went over a dam, local officials said Sunday.
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a news release that the body of Isiah Crawford, 7, was found in the Dan River.
Another tuber, Teresa Villano, 35, is still missing. The search for her continued on Sunday, officials said.
Her sister told CBS Greensboro, North Carolina, affiliate WFMY-TV the family hasn't given up hope, saying, "We're just asking for prayers for my sister. She was pregnant. Just prayers that we find her and a hope that we have a miracle, that she's alive."
The sheriff's office said the child's body was found after authorities received a 911 call about 10 a.m. Someone reported seeing a body in the river near a boat landing in the town of Eden.
The accident occurred Wednesday night when a group of nine people floated down the river on inflatable tubes and went over a dam. Four people were rescued Thursday, while three tubers' bodies were found that day.
The dam is about 8 feet high next to a Duke Energy plant.
Boating experts told The News & Record, in Greensboro, that such low-head dams are notorious for trapping people in the powerful current that churns at their base.
Dan Riverkeeper Steven Pulliam, of Stoneville, told the newspaper he wonders if recent rains created mud that obscured a portage area where boaters and tubers can exit and walk around the dam's powerful currents.
