Still no sign of fisherman after extensive Susquehanna search

WILKES-BARRE — The search for a missing fisherman will resume today after divers and rescue teams scoured the Susquehanna River for hours Wednesday near where his empty boat was left anchored.

Richard Bevan, of Plains Township, went fishing Tuesday afternoon and did not return home, his daughter Ashley posted on her Facebook page.

Bevan’s cell phone and keys were in the aluminum Sea Nymph with a Mercury outboard motor that was towed to the Nesbitt boat launch by rescue crews around 4:30 p.m. as family and friends waited for word from officials.

Wilkes-Barre City Fire Chief Jay Delaney spoke to them first before briefing the media.

The search began Tuesday night when the fire department was dispatched for a possible drowning, Delaney said. After conducting an extensive search with its boat, the department asked for assistance from the dive team of Germania Hose Co. of Duryea, he said.

“Our crews searched the river til about 2:30 (Wednesday) morning and called off the efforts until a little after 8 o’clock,” Delaney said.

Additional departments and resources were brought in, including a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter and the Ledgedale Fire Co. Scuba Team from Wayne County.

“Our staffs have been in the river literally all day with sonar, sight rescue. Everything that we had to do, we did,” Delaney said Wednesday.

Wilkes-Barre City Police Department Detective Tom Harding said police were called to act in a supporting role.

“We don’t believe any crime has occurred,” Harding said.

He noted there are surveillance cameras along the banks of the river. “We’re looking into if they have captured anything of evidentiary value.”

‘Large search area’

The focus of the search was in the area of Bevan’s boat, approximately a quarter mile downstream from the Market Street Bridge.

The Ledgedale team’s boat was equipped with sonar to search the murky water. One man maneuvered the boat, circling it around Bevan’s boat anchored near midstream. Two other men huddled under a black umbrella that shielded the monitor of the sonar equipment from the glaring sun, and the fourth man was at the bow of the boat.

The Germania team’s boat anchored approximately 50 feet upstream of the empty boat.

The first of three divers entered the water just after 2 p.m. for 20- to 25-minute dives. Tethered to a rope held by a team member on the Germania boat, the divers made pendulum-like sweeps underwater, gradually moving closer to the empty boat.

The second diver entered the water around 2:35 p.m., and the third around 3:15.

The divers said the visibility was good and the current was swift as they searched in depths that ranged from 12 to 25 feet.

Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat said the size of the search area was the biggest obstacle. “With the currents and undercurrents, there’s a very large search area that has to be checked by sonar and just by the naked eye,” he said.

Around 4 p.m., rescuers ended that portion of the search and traveled upstream to the boat launch with Bevan’s boat in tow.

The Ledgedale crew returned to the river around 4:50 p.m. The search was ended around 7 p.m. as crews brought their boats and equipment ashore.

The Ledgedale Fire Co. Scuba Team assists a diver into the Susquehanna River near West Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre during Wednesday’s search for fisherman Richard Bevan, of Plains Township. He’s been missing since Tuesday night. Also working on the rescue were the Germania Hose Co. Water Rescue and the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081017rescue2-2.jpgThe Ledgedale Fire Co. Scuba Team assists a diver into the Susquehanna River near West Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre during Wednesday’s search for fisherman Richard Bevan, of Plains Township. He’s been missing since Tuesday night. Also working on the rescue were the Germania Hose Co. Water Rescue and the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department.

The Germania Hose Co. Water Rescue of Duryea searches for missing fisherman Richard Bevan in the Susquehanna River on Wednesday.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081017rescue3-2.jpgThe Germania Hose Co. Water Rescue of Duryea searches for missing fisherman Richard Bevan in the Susquehanna River on Wednesday.

The Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department helps in the search for missing fisherman Richard Bevan, of Plains Township, in the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre. Beside them is Bevan’s boat that was anchored in the river downstream of the Market Street Bridge.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081017rescue4-2.jpgThe Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department helps in the search for missing fisherman Richard Bevan, of Plains Township, in the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre. Beside them is Bevan’s boat that was anchored in the river downstream of the Market Street Bridge.

The Germania Hose Co.’s Water Rescue team heads out on the Susquehanna River in search of fisherman Richard Bevan, who went missing Tuesday evening.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL081017rescue5-2.jpgThe Germania Hose Co.’s Water Rescue team heads out on the Susquehanna River in search of fisherman Richard Bevan, who went missing Tuesday evening.