Call That Launched Massive River Search in Md. Was Prank, Authorities Believe
Sept. 19--MCCOOLE -- Authorities believe it was a prank call that brought scores of rescuers by land and air to search for a girl who was said to have jumped into the North Branch of the Potomac River Friday evening.
A little after 5 p.m., deputies of the Allegany County Office of the Sheriff were sent to the U.S. Route 220 bridge connecting McCoole to Keyser, W.Va. Dispatchers at the county's 911 center had been told that a female, 13, had jumped from the bridge and was not seen again after going under water.
Search and rescue efforts were coordinated by deputies and fire and ambulance crews from Westernport.
Because a victim could not be seen from the bridge, Maryland State Police Trooper 5 was called in to search from the air. In addition, the shorelines in both states were combed by responders on foot and a boat was launched.
Officers from Mineral County Sheriff's Office, Potomac State College and Keyser Police Department assisted deputies in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the caller.
A name of the suspected victim was obtained, but the attempt to identify an address for that person failed.
The search was ended after an hour.
An investigation continues.
The emergency response was multi-faceted. Other responders were:
- Potomac VFD
- LaVale VFD
- Cresaptown VFD
- Bowling Green VFD with water rescue team and boat
- Allegany County Special Operations Rope Rescue
- Allegany County Water Rescue
- Keyser VFD
- Maryland Department Natural Resources
Mike Sawyers is a staff writer and the outdoor editor at Cumberland Times-News. Call/text him at 301-268-0630, email msawyers@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter.
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