RICHMOND, Va. – The family of a 33-year-old father of five missing since Friday says Richmond fire crews pulled his body from the James River late Sunday evening.
“Today is Mother’s Day and he never called to say Happy Mother’s Day. That’s not my son, something’s wrong,” Fannie Davis said.
CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George said Richmond fire crews located the body in the river around 5 p.m. following a massive three-day search that began Friday morning.
That’s when witnesses said they saw someone jump off the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge in downtown Richmond. Richmond Fire Department spokesman Lt. Christopher Armstrong said Friday that witnesses saw someone “enter the water.”
Search crews spent much of Friday in the water and searching via helicopter. Davis said that was the same day her son, Tyreese Davis, went missing.
"We have called all of the hospitals all of his friends and nobody has found him," Fannie Davis said.
Sunday was also a busy day for rescue crews. In fact, teams were dispatched to six separate water rescues.
The first call came in around 1:45 p.m. That’s when someone told dispatchers they thought they saw something in the James. That call ignited a massive search, which included the state’s medflight helicopter.
For those celebrating on the river for Mother’s Day, the scene was worrisome.
“What you're seeing right now is just a bunch of cops and an ambulance riding around trying to find something,” explained Jessica Adkins. “We've seen a lady, she was crying, so I assume it didn't come out right.”
While the body was located around 5 p.m., crews were unable to remove it from the river until around 8 p.m. because of the high number of water rescues.
At least 20 men and women from various departments took part in the operation, which included a foot search to explore places that were inaccessible by boat.
Richmond fire led the search, but Henrico fire crews also assisted with their advanced water equipment.
