Emergency crews canvassed the Kiskiminetas River early this morning for a Lower Kiski man who police thought might have went into the water.
Shortly after midnight, Parks Township and Leechburg Police officers began the investigation into a 26-year-old man who his friends thought might have gotten lost and went into the water.
That prompted Police to first call Leechburg and Gilpin Township fire crews to send a water rescue team into the frigid waters to search for the man – who was known to have been wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
As fire crews were unable to find the man on a first run-through, Kittanning Hose Company #6’s water rescue team was also put on stand-by and then called near the Leechburg fire station to search for the individual while additional crews from Gilpin Township, Hyde Park/West Leechburg and Allegheny Township (Westmoreland County) searched the river bank on foot.
The Armstrong County HOST team, as well as Pennsylvania State Police troopers, was also put on standby.
The police investigation also intensified after they found an abandoned vehicle near River’s Edge Canoe and Kayak along River Road in Leechburg.
However, shortly before 2AM, police stopped a man walking near Railroad Street in Hyde Park with a grey cutoff shirt that responded to the name of the man missing.
Volunteer rescuers then were allowed to return to their respective stations.