Vigil continues at Ohiopyle
OHIOPYLE – The family of a 26-year-old Canonsburg man who presumably drowned Friday when high water carried him over the waterfall in Ohiopyle State Park continued their vigil Monday waiting for searchers to find his body.
Esker H. Cottrill III was swimming in the Youghiogheny River with friends upstream of the waterfall on Friday afternoon when the water was about 7 feet deep, nearly five feet higher than normal, when he was swept over the 20-feet high waterfall. Family members have stayed in Ohiopyle since the mishap and were hopeful that a diving team from the New Haven Hose Co. in Connellsville, which arrived late Monday afternoon, would find his body.
The family issued a statement asking people to pray for his body to be found.
“We need him home and out of the water. We have not left the area and will not leave without him. We want to express our sincere and deepest gratitude to the community, rescuers and volunteers of Ohiopyle for their unselfish and unconditional help and love they have given daily.”
The search Monday centered on a stretch of the river known as No Name located about three miles from the falls. The area has pools measuring 20-to-30-feet-deep, according to Steve Rugg of Fayette EMS, who was helping the dive team prepare to search.
Rugg cautioned the divers and boat operator about the fast current in the river and told them several poisonous copperhead snakes had been seen on the shore in the search area. He said Uniontown Hospital had a supply of anti-venom in store.
Divers were sent to No Name after a cadaver dog “hit” in the area Sunday and Monday.
Luanne Richter who owns the dog, a German shepherd named Reilly after Fayette County Coroner Phillip E. Reilly, said it hit in one spot Sunday and had a much stronger hit about 100 yards downstream from there Monday.
“A real strong one. He went nuts,” said Richter who works with the coroner’s office. “He was hanging over the boat pawing at the water.”
John Hallas, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Park Manager, was snorkeling in the area, but did not locate the body, said assistant park manager Stacie Faust.
Dive team members expressed relief when Rugg told them Hallas reported that underwater visibility was about 8 feet.
Terry Conn, the leader of the dive team, said he and Bill Copeland would be tethered to a rope secured on shore when they enter the water.
Rugg said the Fayette County Search and Rescue squad, a dog team from West Virginia, a STAT MedEvac helicopter and a state police helicopter searched over the weekend.
“We’ve had a lot of help, just no luck,” Rugg said.
Faust said many volunteers in kayaks also helped in the search over the weekend, but fewer were participating Monday to avoid distracting the dog.
Dive team members made their way to the river around 3:40 p.m. after the Greene County Emergency Management Agency delivered a motor for the inflatable boat they were taking to the search area. The motor was going to be attached to the boat after it was inflated at the riverside takeout area near the High Bridge that carries the bike trail over the river.
Cottrill was seen going over the waterfall, then in the area where Meadow Run flows into the river and was last seen at the High Bridge. No Name is about 11/2 miles from the bridge.
After searching the No Name area, Hallas planned to search all the way to Connellsville in a boat.
The river level was reduced to about 4 feet deep Saturday and to 21/2 feet Sunday, but it rose to 31/2 feet Monday because high water levels at Yough River Lake Dam forced the Army Corps of Engineers to release some water, Faust said.
She said the lake level was high and rainstorms are in the forecast for Tuesday.
“The Army Corps has been working with us,” Faust said.
Guesthouses and motels in Ohiopyle gave Cottrill’s family discount rates over the weekend and the family slept in a church Sunday night, she said.
The Spring Valley community provided food and beverages for the family and searchers, Faust said.
“Everybody in the community is lending a hand,” Faust said.
Faust said the search was suspended shortly before 8 p.m. and said it will resume this morning.
She said the Cottrill family is trying to establish a memorial fund to provide help to families that find themselves in the unfortunate situation they are in.
Donations can be made to the Friends of Ohiopyle in care of the Esker Cottrill Memorial Fund, Ohiopyle State Park, P.O. Box 105, Ohiopyle, Pa. 15470. Checks should be made payable to Friends of Ohiopyle.
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