Crews Search Turtle Creek For Missing SMU Officer
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
Updated 4 p.m.
Dallas police confirm they have recovered a vehicle matching the description of a missing SMU officer. Dive and search teams from Dallas Fire Rescue continue to search for him along a two mile stretch of Turtle Creek from Fitzhugh to the Trinity River.
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Search teams in Dallas are trying to locate the body of a Southern Methodist University police officer in Turtle Creek. He called for help just after 1:30 a.m. early Tuesday, saying that his vehicle was being moved by high water near the 1700 block of Fitzhugh Avenue and that he was trapped inside.
Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to the scene, but were not able to locate the car or the driver. They did describe the water at that time, however, as being swift and "unusually high," coming up to the edge of a bridge over Turtle Creek. The caller had said the water was at least over the hood of his vehicle.
Officials have not released the name of the missing man, but confirmed that he was a SMU police officer who was working off-duty as a private security guard at a nearby construction site. It is not known if the officer was in uniform or plain clothes.
Officials believe that the officer likely did not survive this incident, so searchers are attempting to recover his body.
Crews spent Tuesday walking up and down the banks of the creek, and going in with rafts, but the officer's body has not been located yet. A police helicopter was also called to help with the search, as was a boat with sonar capabilities, but there has still been no success.
Search teams ultimately found McCullers' white Dodge, but there was nobody inside. Police say video from a nearby home surveillance camera shows that the officer got out of his vehicle before it was washed away by the water. Turtle Creek ultimately feeds into the Trinity River, so the search could become quite extensive if rescuers can't find the officer's body soon.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with the officer's family members and other loved ones as the search continues," added Chief Richard Shafer with the SMU Police Department.
