Search continues for missing man in Monongahela
Crews continued searching along the water in Monongahela Sunday for a man who has been missing since last week.
Numerous local agencies were helping in the search for Shelby Rhodes. Boats equipped with side-scan sonar will be sweeping the Monongahela River, the Donora Fire Company said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
Rhodes, 26, of Monongahela, was last seen leaving a gathering in Monongahela in the Black Diamond neighborhood around 5:20 a.m. Feb. 8.
Other people leaving at the same time said they had seen him walking toward the woods and the Monongahela River, said Shelby’s sister, Jessica Rhodes.
He was reported missing on Wednesday. Jessica’s boyfriend found Shelby’s cellphone resting against a canoe Wednesday evening, along with footprints leading to the water.
Neither Jessica nor Shelby’s brother, C.J. Pearce, believe their brother would have gone into the river.
For one, he had told other people that night he wasn’t dressed for the weather, Jessica said.
And he’d been excited about his burgeoning rap career under the name Indigo Riot, including upcoming features with a mainstream rapper, Pearce said.
On Feb. 6, when Jessica last texted Shelby, he’d told her about his upcoming spot as an extra in a new episode of “Mayor of Kingstown.”
He had also been waiting on a package being delivered to his house, which just arrived Friday, Pearce said.
“He had a future coming,” Pearce said. “He had a lot to look forward to.”
People who’d been hanging out with him earlier that night at the Drunken Hippie bar in Monongahela said he had been in a good mood and laughing, Jessica said.
At the gathering back at the house, Shelby had reconnected with the house’s owner, a former classmate he hadn’t seen in years, and reflected on their lives since graduation, Jessica said.
“That’s just who he is,” Jessica said. “He’s gotten knocked down in life so many times, and he continues to keep going.”
Crews had searched for a couple of hours on Thursday, but the ice dam on the river was too thick at the time, Pearce said.
Shelby’s siblings and friends had gathered at Flamingo Legs in Monongahela Saturday morning to wait for word and to assist if needed.
Saturday’s search included a cadaver dog searching the ice, while crews had also been sawing through the ice in order to send down drones and dive teams, Pearce said.
Boats equipped with sonar went out Saturday afternoon. They found a target, which wound up being a tree branch, Jessica said in a Facebook post Sunday night.
Saturday’s search continued into darkness, when it was suspended into Sunday to continue with more advanced sonar and larger boats, Jessica said in her post.
The Donora Fire Company, which is assisting in the search, said in a Facebook post Saturday’s efforts lasted for 14 hours.
After Saturday’s temperatures reached into the 50s, the Monongahela Fire Department chief was confident all the ice would be broken up for Sunday’s search, Jessica’s post said.
Shelby’s siblings are hoping he had decided to go dark for some reason, though they said it would be uncharacteristic of him.
“It’s not like Shelby to not post on social media,” Pearce said. “It’s not like him to not contact family. Even if he was feeling sad or depressed or anything, he would contact Jessica.”
A graphic circulated online by friends and family shows a photo of Shelby from the night of his disappearance. He was wearing a blue baseball cap with a yellow bill, a black hoodie with white lettering and blue jeans.
Anyone with information on Shelby’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Monongahela Police Department at 724-258-5555.