After searching for a man last seen entering a Santa Maria drainage basin Tuesday night, police believe the 32-year-old is not in the reservoir.
A Santa Maria Police Department spokesman said Thursday night that "after concluding search efforts," law enforcement officials believe the missing man, David Navarro, is not in the water.
The department, with assistance from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Search & Rescue Dive Team, conducted searches all day Thursday, looking for the man in the flood control reservoir located at Canal Street and Blosser Road.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Search & Rescue Dive Team utilized special watercraft that was aided by sonar and imaging technology.
The police is asking anyone that may have been in the area of the incident on Tuesday, at about 11 p.m., and those that may have any information related to Navarro's whereabouts, to contact the Santa Maria Police Department. The Communications Center can be reached at (805) 928-3781 x2277.
Police began searching for Navarro after he disappeared late Tuesday night following reports he entered the enclosure around a drainage basin near the northwest corner of the city following Tuesday's storm.
A resident notified police shortly before 11 p.m. that her acquaintance, Navarro, had entered the fenced-off basin at the corner of North Blosser and Canal, but she had not been able to locate him since, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
Officers who arrived on scene learned Navarro had not been seen entering the water, but they recovered what they believed to be his jacket from the water in the same general area, said Sgt. Daniel Rios, supervisor of the Detective Bureau, which was brought in to take over the investigation.
Police officers and personnel from Santa Maria Fire Department and Santa Barbara County Fire Department Search and Rescue Team conducted an extensive search of the immediate and surrounding areas until the early morning hours of Wednesday, Rios said.
He said the search included watercraft, drones and thermal imaging, which resumed again at daylight using drones and the California Highway Patrol helicopter, which also checked all flood channels on Wednesday.
Police then requested mutual aid assistance from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team for an underwater search of the reservoir at Blosser Road and Canal Street.
