Another day of little hope

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 17, 2009 | by Pat Reavy Deseret News

Crews searching for the body of an 8-year-old boy presumed drowned in a Jordan River surplus canal brought out more vehicles Tuesday afternoon to assist in the effort.

Trejon Fite was last seen Saturday evening playing on a steel pipe stretching from one bank of the canal to the other, about 60 feet across. Trejon fell into the swift-moving canal and was last seen being swept away near the two bridges that cross the river, one at California Avenue and the other at Redwood Road.

Salt Lake County Search and Rescue crews, along with member of the State Dive Team, had been using an inflatable raft and a portable tripod-like sonar device to look for Trejon. The sonar had a range of about 40 feet. Crews had to continually drop the device into the water, scan the canal floor, and then lift it and move to another location. The methodical search was moving at a pace of about 100 feet every hour to 90 minutes, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson. The area crews were searching was about a mile to a mile and a half long.

On Tuesday, the state brought in its 25-foot boat with equipment that allowed them to use sonar at a much quicker pace. A backhoe was used to dig a boat ramp near the canal banks to launch the watercraft.

By the end of the day, some of the items found in the canal were a tarp and some tires, but there was no sign of the boy.

Cadaver dogs were used to sniff along the banks of the canal, and the Department of Public Safety helicopter was used to search both the area within and beyond the grid. A grate was set up downriver shortly after the accident was reported Saturday to catch the boy's body. Rescuers estimated where they thought the body would not have been swept past yet. However, Hutson said there was no way to know if the boy's body was already past that point, which is why the helicopter searched farther north Tuesday, past the main search area.

Trejon's family, including his mother, grandparents and some of his six brothers and sisters, have gathered at the search site every day waiting for word of their loved one. Star Brown, Trejon's mother, has had her son's blanket with her each day. Her hope is to wrap her son's body in it and hold him one more time after his body is found.

Brown has resigned herself to the fact her son will most likely not be found alive, but would like to find his body for closure.

Officials have said shutting off the canal from the Jordan River and waiting for it to drain was not an option, especially this time of year, because the Jordan River would overflow and flood nearby areas. The canal is an estimated 18 feet deep in some spots.

The search will resume early today. Hutson said the search rescue crews will be going over four areas, identified by sonar that could use some additional investigation.

E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com