Search-and-rescue crews spent several hours searching the Puyallup River on Monday after Tacoma firefighters spotted what appeared to be a person struggling in the water near the Interstate 5 bridge.
The search came up empty, and officials called it off just before 4 p.m.
“Nothing has turned up,” Tacoma Fire spokesman Joe Meinecke said. “They don’t know what happened.”
Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the department had not received any missing-person reports that were relevant to the search.
Firefighters aboard a Tacoma Fire medic unit driving down I-5 spotted a person midchannel shortly after 10:30 a.m. The person appeared to be waving his or her arms, Meinecke said.
The medic unit got off the freeway, but by the time it circled back to the area, the person was gone, Meinecke said.
The fire department launched a water rescue and called in resources from area law enforcement agencies.
They concentrated their efforts from the bridge to the mouth of Commencement Bay, Meinecke said.
Crews scanned the river from nearby roads and bridges while rescue boats and divers searched the water and river banks. A Washington State Patrol aircraft flew overhead.
Tacoma fire crews used thermal imaging scanners to look under the water’s surface but found nothing, Meinecke said.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268 stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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