Firefighters spent several hours over the weekend searching for two young women who were reported missing while floating the Big River in the De Soto area.
De Soto Rural Fire Chief Tom Fitzgerald said he isn’t sure what time the De Soto-area women were reported missing, but they started floating on rafts at about 1 p.m. on Aug. 30 at Mammoth Bridge, and the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District was dispatched to search for them at 1:13 a.m. Aug. 31.
He said family members lost contact with the women at about 7 p.m. Aug. 30, and the women never arrived at their destination, which was Merrill Horse Access about 5 miles away.
Fitzgerald said the low river and the darkness hampered firefighters who were navigating the river by boat. The Hillsboro Fire Protection District’s drone also had trouble finding anything in the darkness.
He said firefighters ended their search at 3:38 a.m. and returned at daylight.
Fitzgerald said just before 9 a.m., a resident in the 13100 block of Cedar Hollow near Fletcher found the women on a sandbar about three-quarters of a mile from their destination. They were not injured.
Fitzgerald said he didn’t know why the women had stopped at the sandbar but was happy the search had a good outcome.
He said the women reported that they had heard a drone and a boat during the night but did not call out for help.