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Jan. 14, 2010
By Lori Lindner
NORTH LIBERTY LEADER
lori@northlibertyleader.com
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Martin Davis of Linn County, has been missing since January 3. Here, Johnson County Sheriff deputies join in the search on January 6.
(Lori Lindner) |
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LINN COUNTY- The search has been called off for a missing Linn County man who disappeared Sunday, Jan. 3.
Martin Davis, 52, was last seen leaving his home near Shueyville on Sunday morning, Jan. 3, about 10:30 a.m. on a yellow Ski-Doo snowmobile. When Davis did not return home, his family called the Linn County Sheriff's Department and reported him missing Monday, Jan. 4.
Because Davis was believed to be headed toward the Scales Pointe area off the Coralville Reservoir, Linn County asked the Johnson County Sheriff's Department to assist in the search. Johnson County Chief Deputy Steve Dolezal said Friday that Johnson County patrol units and officers on snowmobiles helped search areas of Johnson County where Davis might have traveled.
Though it is Linn County's case, the search party eventually included The Army Corps of Engineers, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa State Patrol and even several members of the local Iowa Snowdrifters snowmobile club, who volunteered to drive area snowmobile trails in search of Davis.
"By Wednesday evening, at least 10 people from the club had been out," said Snowdrifters president Mel Rinehart. "They were running the trails on their own snowmobiles, to see if perhaps he (Davis) had broken down or went off a trail. It was sort of a shotgun approach, but not having a definite location, it was very difficult to pin down where to look"
The Iowa State Patrol flew a search plane over the Coralville Reservoir for two days, and spotted what they considered apparent "abnormalities" on the lake's surface.
"At that point, Linn County asked the Muscatine County Sheriff's Department to assist, because they have ice water rescue equipment available," said Dolezal. They used the equipment to drill the surface of the lake, which was frozen to about 18 inches thick, Dolezal said, and lowered cameras into the water. Visibility was limited, but searchers were able to ascertain that the water in those areas was shallow- approximately 6 ft. deep- and the visible abnormalities were caused by vegetation growing under the surface.
Dolezal said as of Friday, Jan. 8, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department still had two deputies out on snowmobiles, actively helping in the search for Davis just to touch on any remaining possible leads, but after that, the department would transition into a "passive" mode on the case, and be available to assist or follow-up as any new information came in. Dolezal said even after the week's search, Davis's whereabouts remained completely unknown.
"We don't have any evidence that puts him closer to the Coralville Lake than to any other location in Linn or Johnson County," Dolezal concluded. "We just followed the leads where he was known to have frequented"
Davis is 5 ft., 5 inches tall, weighs 225 pounds and was last seen to be wearing a black and gray ski jacket and black ski pants. Anyone with any information is encouraged to call the Linn County Sheriff's Department at (319) 892-6100.
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