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K9 Teams To Search For Children Still Missing After May Floods

City of San Marcos

Canine search teams are on their way to Central Texas this weekend to intensify the search for two children still missing from the Memorial Day weekend floods in Wimberley.

  Six-year-old Will Charba and 4-year-old Leighton McComb, were in a Wimberley home that was swept down the rushing Blanco River May 24.

Will Charba, age 6, missing from Wimberley since May 24 flood

Kristi Wyatt with the City of San Marcos said changes in the river mean the dogs can now go into areas near the Blanco River where high waters had kept them away. 

"The river level has receded. The water level has gone down and so now there's a push to get into some of those areas where they weren't able to search before. So now we have new teams from all over the state,” Wyatt said.

She said several teams will search a five-mile area around the Blanco River in Caldwell County and a larger area in Hays County.

Jonathan McComb was the only family member to survive the rush of water that swept his family and friends away. McComb and the family’s dog were found down 

  river, but his wife and son were killed and his daughter is presumed dead. Nine other people in Wimberley died after floods struck the area.

Crews have recovered and identified nine bodies of flood victims since the May 24 flood, including friends and relatives of the missing children. No recoveries have been made since early June.

Flood Victims Identified:

·        William Randall Charba, age 42, found near Bluffview Drive near Wimberley

·        Dayton Larry Thomas, age 74, found in northern San Marcos May 24

·        Michelle Marie Carey-Charba, age 43, found May 25 in Caldwell County

·        Jose Alvaro Arteaga-Pichardo, age 29, found in the area of Loop 165 in Wimberley May 26

·        Jonathan Andrew McComb, age 6, found May 27 near Water Park Road and RR 3237 in Wimberley

·        Ralph Hugh Carey, age 73, found May 28 near Fox Road northwest of San Marcos

·        Sue McNeil Carey, age 71, found May 30 at Lime Kiln and Water Tower Roads in San Marcos

·        Laura Schultz McComb, age 34, found May 30 near the Blanco River near the 700 Block of Bluffview Road in Wimberley

·        Kenneth Reissig, age 81, found May 28 near the Blanco River at Narrows Road, near the Blanco/Hays County line.

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.