Search for Missing Hunters Enters Fourth Day

Well into the third day of searching for two missing hunters in Baldwin County, rescuers found only a canoe paddle. They found it floating in the waters of the Tensaw River perhaps a mile from where the hunters' canoe was found on Monday.

28 year old Alan Clemmons and 23 year old Jason Brown were reported missing on Sunday. They hadn't returned from canoeing the Tensaw. They took rifles in case the were able to shoot squirrels. The rifles and an empty cooler were found in the canoe. So far there has been no sign of the hunters.

More than a dozen boats were in the water today despite a rainy start. Searchers with the Alabama Marine Police, North Baldwin Search and Rescue, Daphne Search and Rescue as well as from Mobile County and even from the Florida Panhandle, fanned out in boats to scour the delta.

"We've significantly expanded the search area," said North Baldwin Search and Rescue's Matt Burton.

Wiley Ferrell traveled from Grand Bay with his home-made wooden boat to help search. "I heard there were some missing hunters and I know if I were missing I'd hope there'd be people searching for me," he said.

Jessie Peacock of the Alabama Marine Police said the search was expanded to include hunting trails and all of Gravine Island, in the middle of the Tensaw. "It's certainly possible they made it to land," he said.

Just the same, the rescue effort has now taken on elements of a recovery mission, with rescuers using sonar to read the waters of the river. With the water temperature at 51 degrees, it wouldn't take long for anyone to be overcome with hypothermia. The searchers will return Wednesday at 8am.

Search crews are staging at Cliff's Landing off of Highway 225 north of Spanish Fort. Clemmons and Brown launched from south of there in the Hurricane Bayou area, according to the Alabama Marine Police.