Authorities Look For Teen Who Slipped Into Lake

Wednesday, August 22nd 2007, 9:39 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Emergency workers suspended their efforts Wednesday night to recover the body of a high school cross-country runner who vanished after trying to cross a flooded trail near Lake Overholser, authorities said.

District Fire Chief Chris Fields said members of the Putnam City West High School track team were out on a routine run and found one of its routes, a trail around the lake, under water. They tried to swim across to the other side but one of them, identified as 17-year-old Phillip Jones, didn't make it out, Fields said.

Fields said firefighters received a call at 2:51 p.m. that there were three teens in the water. By the time they arrived five minutes later, two of the boys had gotten out.

He said firefighters were ``in recovery mode.''

``It's been well over two hours, almost three hours, since he was last seen,'' Fields said of the missing boy.

Officials suspended efforts to find him at 9 p.m. because of darkness, Fields said.

``We are definitely maintaining a fire and police presence out here all night to secure the area and our fire guys are watching the shoreline,'' he said. ``Once daybreak comes and we get other shifts in, we'll resume the search.''

City crews had opened the gates of the lake's dam after heavy rains fell over the weekend and made the water flow rapid.

``This area is on the other side of the dam, and its hampering our rescue effort because they had to have the gates open or the lake would crest and cause flooding downstream,'' Fields said.

``They're pinching them closed a little bit at a time so the divers can go in.''

Crews dropped buoys in the water at points where the teen was last seen and divers were awaiting the arrival of sonar equipment that could be placed near the buoys to detect where the boy might be, Fields said.

One of Jones' teammates told â€œThe Oklahomanâ€ that several of them were running along the trail when they encountered water about eight inches deep and decided to wade through it.

The teammate, who wasn't identified, said Jones must have stepped into a drop-off and was pulled into the water. The teammate said he and the other boy tried to pull Jones out but they got sucked in themselves and couldn't hold on.

Steve Lindley, communications director for the Putnam City school district, said Putnam City West High School is located about two blocks from the lake, and the cross-country team goes on training runs once or twice a week in the area, Lindley said.

Faculty members at the school were notified of the incident and extra counselor will be on hand Thursday, he said.

``We'll talk to the faculty again in the morning. We want them to know what signs to look for if students or their colleagues are struggling and how to get people to those counselors,'' he said.