HENDERSON, NV (FOX5) -
The family of missing Henderson teen Will Mootz said they and other volunteers are pressing on with their search Friday as police intend to hold off a formal effort until Monday.
Crews appeared to have made a significant find in their first full day of looking for the Green Valley High School senior.
Early Thursday evening, a shoe was found that is believed to be one Mootz was wearing.
Mootz wound up missing late Wednesday morning after slipping into the moving Pittman Wash, which was raging in run-off from that day's storm activity.
A large portion of Thursday's search took place near Sam Boyd Stadium, about two miles from where Mootz fell in. The wash is thick with branches, mud and debris. Searchers speculate Mootz may have gotten caught up in the area.
"We found his shoe. They went out and got a GPS reading on his shoe," said Will Mootz's father, Charlie Mootz.
That reading pinpoints where the search will resume on Friday. However, that search will be limited to volunteers. Henderson police announced Thursday that they will not resume a formal search effort until Monday morning.
"It's no longer a rescue in their minds. They're professionals, they have a job to do," Charlie Mootz said. "They have resources that are limited and there's a cost associated with that. We're all taxpayers, we all pay for it. I don't agree with it because now it's my child out here. If it was your child you wouldn't be agreeing with it."
On Thursday, a multi-agency effort was staged on the ground and in the air to search for any sign of the teen. Police released 911 calls from a witness to Will Mootz being carried down the raging flood channel.
"I see a man in the water, in the wash, with his hands up signaling for help," said the 911 caller.
Friends and family continue to hold on to hope.
"We're going on the presumption that he's still out there, somewhere in high grounds. I don't want to give up. He doesn't give up. He's a strong fighter," Charlie Mootz said.
Some police search and rescue members who are scheduled to be off Friday have pledged to join the search operation. Those interested in volunteering were asked to meet Friday at Sam Boyd Stadium at 6 a.m.
More than 40 police officers and firefighters took part in Thursday's search. They were joined by more than 100 volunteers.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
Friends and family members of a teen who was feared to be swept away in the Pittman Wash gather before search resumed Thursday.(Dave Lawrence/FOX5)
Volunteers got a break in the weather to return to the Pittman Wash. (Armando Navarro/FOX5)
People stand over the Pittman Wash amid a search and rescue of a teen. (Roger Bryner/FOX5)
