Tulsa Fire Department: Body Of 3rd Fisherman Recovered From Arkansas River

After over 12 hours of searching, firefighters confirmed they have found the body of the third fisherman to drown early Thursday morning.

The body of 27-year-old Eric Harris (a source incorrectly told News On 6 earlier that the name was Harns), of Tulsa, was found, firefighters said, about a quarter-mile south of the pedestrian bridge.

The first victim, Troy George, 23, from Louisiana, was found at about 7 a.m., but emergency crews had to wait a few hours in the afternoon for the water in the river to go down before they could resume their search.

They found the second victim, 20-year-old Conner Norvell, around 3:30 p.m., in the fountains north of the pedestrian bridge. He was from Colorado, but was attending Tulsa Welding School, along with the other two.

The search started shortly after 5 a.m.

Tulsa Fire says at least five friends, who had been hanging out since late Wednesday night, began noodling in the Arkansas River near the pedestrian bridge around 3 a.m.

"Because I've never done it around this. This is stupidity, honestly," said Bryan Tillman.

Tillman was part of the group. He said one of his friends wanted to noodle around the fountains.

"He swore he's done it, swore he's done it and they walked up here, right off the edge. Long story short, Conner jumps in, he's under about three or four minutes. We don't see him, he comes up and says he needs help," Tillman said.

Tillman said a second friend jumped in the water, but he never came up, that's when a third friend began walking out on the edge of the fountain.

That man had a rope in case he needed help, but Tillman said, when his friend fell in the water, he just disappeared.

"I was just telling him, 'Come back, come back, come back, come back' and he just wouldn't listen and it sucked him in and that was it," Tillman said.

The body of Troy George was found by a jogger several hours after the search began.

Jen Kirali said she saw the news coverage and could hear the choppers overhead and couldn't sleep.

"Something told me to go out and that I needed to run and that I might find something. And I didn't want to do it, because all of the chaos down here and everything, but sure enough, I did and found one of them," Kirali said.

She said she wasn't confident that it was one of the young noodlers until a detail caught her eye.

"I saw the lace and I saw his shoes, and then I stepped back," she said.

Then she called for help.

"I was just distraught. I am just glad we found one of them," Kirali said.

Because of the dangerous water conditions the search had to be called off for most of the day after George's body was recovered.

"This isn't just for the average person," said Tulsa resident John Albert.

Albert fishes this part the river several times a week. He said the depth of the water isn't a concern, it's the speed of the current and the undertow that makes it dangerous.

The Red Cross set up a canteen nearby to support the rescue crews as the operation went on.