The search for Frankie Watson, who’s been missing since last Sunday night, continues (see Tuesday’s edition for the initial report). Watson and a friend were four-wheeling around 6 p.m. on Sunday evening when they became stuck along the east side of Big South Fork near Lick Creek and decided to walk out for help. Around 8 p.m. they saw lights on the other side of the river, possibly from residences or vehicles on Highway 92. The men decided to go directly to those lights and entered the river, but Watson’s friend turned back when the water got chest high. The pair remained in voice contact, but only for a short time. Watson’s friend reported the incident and a search was begun that has continued since that time and has involved ground searchers, tracking dogs and helicopters. The operation began scaling back yesterday due to bad weather and increased difficulty in obtaining local assistance due to the work week. The plan for Thursday and Friday was to have all NPS personnel who are boat certified conduct visual searches between Yamacraw Bridge and the Alum boat ramp. If Watson is not found, the operation will ramp up again on the weekend with local rescue squad personnel assisting and resumed diving and dragging operations. If those efforts prove fruitless, the operation may scale back to periodic patrols and air searches incidental to regular helicopter flights. Ranger Tommy Barnes is IC.
