Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, February 22, 2013
(DUGGER) - Friends of a missing Dugger man are asking for help in their second attempt at searching for Shane Porter on Saturday.
Sabrina Westfall of the Greene County Daily World reports that Porter, 37, was last seen Friday, Feb. 8 around 5:15 p.m. at his home in Dugger, according to information released by the Indiana State Police.
He is described as a 6-foot-2 white male, weighing 200 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.
Later in the evening of Feb. 8 he was reported missing, and Vincennes City Police received a report from a citizen a man was swimming in the Wabash River near the Pearl City area of Vincennes, and Porter's vehicle was located the following Sunday near the Wabash River.
A close friend of Porter's, Josh Hardesty, is working to organize search parties to cover the area where Porter's vehicle was discovered.
Hardesty said it was not like Porter to not show up at his job. He recently started working as a respiratory therapist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes.
Last weekend, approximately 20 people gathered in the search for Porter along the Wabash River in Vincennes, starting at the Vincennes Township Fire Department.
The search will reconvene this Saturday at approximately 8 a.m., and Hardesty said the biggest resource needed is manpower.
"We are looking for people that are of age. There is a good chance this will turn from a search and rescue to a search and recovery. We want to think positive, but we don't want somebody to be scarred," Hardesty stressed.
The search will be mainly on foot, and each group will cover a section of the river. Hardesty said the group is also in need of people in boats on the river, and vehicles to transfer people back to the starting point.
"The bigger the group, the more we can not only help on the Indiana side, but on the Illinois side. Anyone that wants to go out on the river needs to be experienced. There are huge trees out in this river," Hardesty stressed.
Those who wish to help are encouraged to dress accordingly.
"Never go out there alone. When we do go out, I want to make sure we don't go alone. Along the bank, it's like ice almost. It's hard to get traction close to the river. We don't want this to go from searching for one person to searching for two," Hardesty said.
The search groups are in need of hand warmers and handheld radios, due to the rural area causing spotty cell phone signal.
The Department of Natural Resources in Knox County has been a huge help, Hardesty said. DNR official Joe Haywood has been instrumental in helping search for Porter.
"Joe said they have found people in two to three weeks into the search or even months, and sometimes years. ... There is word that the odds of him being recovered this weekend are better than last weekend," Hardesty said.
Currently, those helping are more than willing to use their own resources. But if the search continues they may be in need of monetary help.
There have been donation cans set up in various parts of Greene and Sullivan counties, and proceeds will help in the search. Hardesty said worst-case scenario, they may go to help with funeral costs.
For more information about the search and rescue, visit the "Help Find Shane" Facebook page, or call Hardesty at (812) 648-2749. If he does not answer leave a name, number and how you wish to help.
If you have any information about Porter's whereabouts, please call Tom Hanks or Trooper Polly Blackburn at the Putnamville Indiana State Police Post at (765) 653-4114 or Indiana Conservation Officer Haywood at (812) 837-9536.
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