Mom Expresses Thanks for Search Efforts

Updated at 5:00 pm 12-09-09

Paula Paul holds out hope for some good news about her son, Alan Clemons. The 29 year old, soon to be married Clemons, has been missing since Sunday after a canoe trip on the Tensaw River. He was with his cousin, Jason Brown. Family members have been waiting for news in the Hurricane Landing community on the edge of the Tensaw.

Paul says she is grateful for the Alabama Marine Police, North Baldwin Search and Rescue, Daphne Search and Rescue, units from Mobile County and the Florida panhandle. She said, "They were there to inform us even when there was nothing to inform, and they are still there."

James Phillips with North Baldwin Search and Rescue says this is still a rescue operation with elements of a recovery operation. For example, the searchers are using side sonar to search beneath the waters of the river. Divers are on standby. The last clue was found on Tuesday when one of the canoe paddles the men had was found floating perhaps a mile from where their canoe was found on Monday.