CAMP CREEK, W.Va. — A full scale search was launched Wednesday night along Camp Creek in Mercer County near the confluence with the Bluestone River for a missing kayaker. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police learned a male and female from Princeton, W.Va. decided to give the water a try around 5:30 p.m.
“This river is normally never used for kayaking, but I’m assuming they thought at flood stage it would be a good time,” said Lieutenant Woodrow Brogan of the DNR’s law enforcement. “Somewhere around 6:00 both of them capsized.”
Brogan said the female was able to swim to shore. She searched for her companion for about an hour, but couldn’t find him and alerted 911. Search crews were limited in the dark and resumed their efforts Thursday morning. However, the search was further hampered by the weather.
“It’s gone down a foot since midnight, so we have boats on the water and we have fire department personnel and officers literally walking the gorge area,” he said. “We had a lot of fog set in and we do have aircraft on standby, but the fog has settled down in the gorge area and it’s causing us issues with using any type of aircraft.”
The rough terrain of the gorge has added to the difficulty. Brogan said the area is inaccessible by vehicle and nearly inaccessible by foot. Some of the riverbanks are sheer cliffs which start at the water’s edge.
The high flow was apparently attractive to the two who are said to be experienced paddlers but the high water also created many more hazards than may have been realized before the trip.
“Being at flood stage you get up into where you have a lot of obstructions,” Brogan said. “The winter we’ve had has pushed a lot of trees down and a lot of rock slides they maybe weren’t aware of.”
DNR hasn’t identified the man they’re looking for, but say he’s from Princeton.