Young father missing near San Luis Pass bridge after trying to rescue 3-year-old daughter
GALVESTON, Texas - Search efforts are underway in Galveston County for a missing 25-year-old man last seen trying to rescue his 3-year-old daughter.
According to officials, the man’s 3-year-old was in a float Sunday evening when she started drifting away with the wind near San Luis Pass.
BACKGROUND: Man missing after trying to rescue daughter near San Luis Pass
The 25-year-old was last seen jumping in the water to rescue her, but hasn’t been seen since. Rescue crews were nearby and located the young girl safe on a sandbar.
"Her dad saw her and started chasing her [and likely] stepping into the gut and drowned," said Chief Peter Davis from Galveston Island Beach Patrol. "He didn’t come back up."
Officials believe the man likely drowned trying to save his 3-year-old daughter. After more than 24 hours, the man remains missing.
"This is a horrible thing," said Davis. "We’re very happy the 3 year-old is okay, at least physically. There’s not much worse we could be dealing with right now."
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Volunteers were helping with the search effort Monday using drones.
"Nobody is thinking he is alive at this point, he would have come up somewhere," said Tony Poynor from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). "[Crews] have been looking all last night and a little bit this morning. We were called this morning to help out with our drones."
Warning signs are posted all around San Luis Pass remind people of the dangers of swimming in the area. This is the second possible drowning death FOX 26 has reported on in three months. In May, a 17-year-old angler drowned while wade fishing with friends.
"The safest thing to do, if you do decide to go there, is to say out of the water completely and fish from shore," said Davis. "If you want to go swimming, or you want your kids in the water, go around the beachfront where it’s quite a bit safer."
The search for the 25-year-old father is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.