Search called off for man reported missing in Cedar River

UPDATE: Rescuers called off their search Sunday night for a man reported missing in the Cedar River.

Rescuers from the Solon and Cedar Rapids fire departments and the Linn County Dive Team all worked to look for the man witnesses say drowned Saturday night.

Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow said search crews suspended operations for the day around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, after beginning their day at 7:30 a.m.

Buelow said the missing man has been identified as a 28-year-old Latino man, who was seen going underwater and failing to re-emerge around 7 p.m. Saturday.

Search operations will resume at 1 p.m. Monday, Buelow said.

"As kids, we used to go swimming and stuff,” said Jessica Armstrong of Cedar Rapids.

But 30 years later, Armstrong said she knows the dangers of the river.  That's why she brought her two sons to watch several rescue crews work to find the missing man. It's a tough lesson about life.

"If they were to fall in, it's pretty deep.  It moves pretty fast and it would suck them down and they would drown,” said Armstrong.

Even with an audience, divers kept searching.  A rescue dog pinpointed an area where he smelled human remains.

"In that area, they've got the divers going right now and searching while our boats are downriver and also using the sonar to see if they can see anything,” said Cedar Rapids Fire Battalion Chief John Pulver.

Unfortunately, Pulver said rescuers have had plenty of practice searching for missing people in the river.  But that doesn't make the process any easier.

"Their visibility is a foot, maybe 18 inches. It isn't going to be very far,” said Pulver.

Rescuers will search for the missing man indefinitely, because according to witnesses, they have a pretty good idea of where he went under.

Pulver offered a simple piece of advice: "Have a life jacket with you when you're in the water."

Some of the firefighters and divers out Sunday were also on scene Saturday night.  To keep the divers fresh, crews worked two- to four-hour rotating shifts on the river.