DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Seven-year-old Lucas Rosales is still missing days later.
2 NEWS spoke with Cassandra Brewer, a woman who was at Eastwood MetroPark the evening Lucas disappeared. She was enjoying her evening out fishing with a friend when she heard a family in distress.
“He was yelling more frantically that time, so we yelled back over to ask him who he was looking for. He said that his son was missing,” Brewer said. “I started walking down our side of the river, and he started walking down his side of the river at the same time.”
Brewer helped look for Lucas near Harshman Road, and soon first responders were on the scene to search the park.
Dayton Fire and Dayton Police first searched the water and all nearby riverbeds. Crews used thermal imaging devices, underwater and aerial drones and sonar devices. The search ended when it got dark outside.
Crews returned Sunday and Monday to look for Lucas with no luck. Texas EquuSearch and the City of Dayton’s water department joined the search effort Tuesday.
The Dayton Fire Department said high river levels are making the search difficult. Once those levels drop, crews plan to build a temporary dam on part of the river to make searching easier.
The family is desperately waiting for answers four days later, and brewer says she’ll keep Lucas and his loved ones in her thoughts.
“I saw the dad, and I saw his panic, and I saw him screaming for his son up and down the side of the river,” Brewer said. “So, it was different to be there, to see it than it is to see it on the news.”
