Des Plaines woman missing in Indiana floodwaters
A search is underway for a Des Plaines woman missing in flood waters on Highway 257 in Indiana.
Kathryn McGill, 31, was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by her husband Adam McGill, 35, when their vehicle was swept off the roadway in flood waters Sunday morning on Highway 257 near the Pike County and Daviess County line.
Around 7:45 a.m. waterfowl hunters reportedly watched a vehicle headed south on the highway trying to navigate flood waters. After seeing the vehicle get swept off the roadway they drove their boat to the area the vehicle was last seen.
Indiana Conservation Officer Joe Haywood, of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement, said Sunday evening, “There were some hunters out there that morning. They saw the vehicle driving through the floodwaters. After a while lights of the vehicle disappeared,” creating concern among the hunters.
Screams for help were heard, and Adam McGill was rescued. But Kathryn McGill could not be located.
Adam McGill was transported to Daviess County Community Hospital and later transported to St. Marys Hospital in Evansville for treatment of hypothermia.
Haywood said, “It (the highway) is in the river bottom that's very notorious for flooding. It's not uncommon for this highway to be flooded.”
He added that there has been a history of vehicles being swept off the highway in the past.
Haywood said Sunday evening that the search for Kathryn McGill has been temporarily halted, but is expected to resume tomorrow morning.
“We called off the search for the evening,” he said. “To be out in the water at night in swift moving currents just isn't safe.”
Search efforts included bank searches, side scan sonar, canine searches, wading shallow water and dragging operations.
Responding agencies included Daviess County Sheriff's Department, Pike County Sheriff's Department, Harrison Fire Department, Jefferson Township Fire Department, Southwest Medical, Pike County EMS, Pike County EMA, Ohio Valley Search and Rescue, American Red Cross and Indiana Conservation Officers.