Monticello Live

Arkansas State Police have confirmed that searchers have found and removed the body of Latasha Strong, age 32, of Warren, and the missing Honda Civic in which she was a pasenger, from near the Flat Branch Creek Bridge near the Saline River, around 3:15 p.m., Monday afternoon.  Ms. Strong was reportedly still in the vehicle, which was found south of the bridge.  She was the mother of 2 children.

The driver of the vehicle, Tyrone Gillman, age 30, of Warren, escaped from the vehicle early Sunday morning, and was able to flag down a passing motorist, which led to the 2 day long search.

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Posted earlier, May 11, 2009.

At 5:06 am, Sunday morning, calls were recieved by both the Monticello and Warren police depts. reporting that a car had driven off of HWY 278 West, near the Flat Branch Creek Bridge, and into the Saline River overflow area.

The reported driver of the vehicle escaped from the water, and the passenger, who was asleep, is being searched for.

Due to the recent heavy rains, and fast flow of the river, the vehicle probably was pulled under the bridge, and is south of the highway, although both sides of the roadway were seached.

Sunday’s search used a boat provided by Scott Carson, of Monticello, equipped with sonar, until that boat capsized during the afternoon.  All 3 occupants of the boat were able to reach a nearby couple of trees, and escape injury.  Another boat was then put into service to continue the search effort.

A large magnet was used to try and locate the vehicle, but since the area had recently been clear-cut, the magnet didn’t provide any clear result, again in part to the swift moving water.

Later in the evening, a log loader was brought in by Timber Logistics, which was used to drag a large hook through deeper parts of the water, in an attempt to hook onto the vehicle, but that also proved futile.

At 8 o’clock, Sunday night, the search was called off due to darkness, to resume around 7 o’clock Monday morning, according to Bradley County Sheriff Rick Anders.

The missing person’s name has not been released to the public by State Police, at this time, but the family was present at the scene for most of the day, Sunday. 

Several co-operating agencies have been involved in the search, while others have assisted with traffic and support, including; the Bradley County Sheriff’s Dept., Bradley County Search and Rescue, and Bradley County Emergency Service, Arkansas State Police,  Ark. Dept. of Emergency Mgt., Drew County Sheriff’s Dept, Monticello Fire Dept. Dive Team, Game & Fish Commision, Jefferson County Rescue Unit, Crossett Rescue Unit, Curley’s Wrecker Service, and other local supporting agencies.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 5:27 am and is filed under WRECKS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.