Public's help sought in search for Allen Daniels
Authorities are asking for the public's help in finding Allen Daniels, missing since Tuesday and presumed drowned in the Mississippi River in Brainerd.
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Daniels, 27, was reported missing about 6 a.m. Tuesday by a friend who said they had been swimming together in the river.
The Brainerd Police Department is requesting anyone who may have seen Allen, or anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious near the Laurel Street bridge Tuesday, to call the department at (218) 829-4749.
Daniels is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 180 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair and a pierced left ear and tongue.
Mark Owen of Superior Dive Repair used an underwater video camera Wednesday to visually inspect piers on the Laurel Street bridge. He was aboard a Crow Wing County sheriff's boat with deputies Ken Dickenson and Phil Stoll as they searched the Mississippi River for Allen Daniels. (Dispatch Photo by Steve Kohls)
Daniels and a friend apparently were doing early morning drywalling at an apartment near the river, and because of the heat decided to take a swim and cool off, authorities reported.
The two men swam from the shore to the railroad bridge piling and back to the shore, then tried the same at the Laurel Street bridge. The friend told authorities the last time he saw Daniels was about 3 a.m. when he was attempting to swim to the Laurel Street bridge piling.
Because Daniels has not been found foul play has not been ruled out, Brainerd Police Chief John Bolduc said.
Brainerd police and the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Department are still searching the Mississippi River. Bolduc said police offers are doing a ground search from the Laurel Street bridge to the College Drive bridge.
The sheriff's department continued searching the river banks today, and tried to map where Allen went into the river and where he might have ended up. Aircraft will continue to fly over the river, too.
Sgt. Neal Gaalswyk, Crow Wing County Sheriff's Department boat and water safety supervisor, said enough time has elapsed that a sunken body should surface soon. That usually happens after three to five days.
The search team on the river has shifted from the primary target areas of the railroad and Laurel Street bridges, Gaalswyk said. Those spots have been searched by camera, divers and drag lines.
"We've pretty well exhausted that area," Gaalswyk said. "I don't think there is a whole lot more we can do there."