SLO County sheriff plans ‘large search’ for boy swept away by floodwaters
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office deployed its drone team Friday during the continued search for missing 5-year-old Kyle Doan, the Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter.
“The Drone Team & CHP’s helicopter have searched large portions of the Salinas River in SLO & Monterey Counties,” the Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter.
Another “large search effort” will continue this weekend, the Sheriff’s Office said, with help from other California agencies.
Doan, a kindergartener at Lillian Larsen Elementary School, went missing Jan. 9 when he was carried away by floodwater after his mother’s car was overtaken by water in San Marcos Creek.
While bystanders were able to save Doan’s mother, the child has not been seen since that day.
The office previously received help from more than 200 out-of-county personnel, including more than 100 California National Guard members, as well as drone operators, dive team members, search and rescue team members and K9 units from the Grover Beach Police Department, Cal Fire, and Ventura, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Santa Clara and Kern County sheriff’s offices.
President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom both mentioned the Doan family in their visit to survey storm damage in Aptos on Thursday.
“Jill and I have him in our prayers, the family in our prayers,” Biden said in his remarks near the pier at Seacliff State Beach.
A total of 21 people died as a result of the severe weather, including Karen Buccat, the Avila Beach woman who was overcome by floodwaters in her car.
Tribune reporters Chloe Jones and Mackenzie Shuman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 3:25 PM.
