DAYTON — After a day and a half of searching parts of the Great Miami River, investigators haven’t found a missing girl and a man.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the search efforts began after personal belongings were found on the riverbank in the area of West Monument Avenue and I-75 on Thursday.
>>PREVIOUS REPORT: Search continues on Great Miami River for man, girl after ‘personal belongings’ found on riverbank
Dayton Fire Department Chief Mike Rice described the items as “personal belongings you wouldn’t usually feel someone would leave behind.”
News Center 7 obtained the 911 call that got authorities out to the riverbank.
“I’m down at the river, RiverScape, and I see someone phone, got car keys and shoes and socks and there is nobody around,” the caller said.
The caller was concerned about what they found.
“Something bad might happen. I don’t know. I’m just reporting,” they said.
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On Friday, investigators announced that they were looking for Scarlibeth Montes and Oscar Garcia.
Dayton police said the vehicle belonging to the family was found in the parking lot near Code Credit Union, and the child’s shoes, socks, keys, a tablet, and cell phone were located near the river.
“Out of abundance of caution, we’re doing a search of the river and running sonar, just to ensure we don’t have any reports if there’s anyone in the water,” Rice said.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Piqua dive teams assisted in the search.
Dayton Fire Department District Chief David Grubb explained how they scanned the area.
“Our crews walked the entire river looking for any deeper spots where any, any person could have gone, just to rule that out,” he said.
They followed up on the buoys they put out on Thursday.
“That’s where we started this morning, actually, was investigating that further to see if we needed to put a diver in the underwater cameras and our sonar, found nothing,” Grubb said.
Around 6 p.m., Montes and Garcia’s family and friends showed up at the river, hoping for answers.
“They said that they didn’t find anything,” one of the family friends told News Center 7.
It is unclear if the Dayton Fire Department will continue its search on Saturday.
Anyone with information on Montes and Garcia’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Dayton Police Department (937) 333-COPS or Crime Stoppers at (937) 222-STOP.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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