Escambia County, Ala. deputies searching for body of swimmer in Conecuh County

CONECUH COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama is searching for the body of a swimmer who went missing Monday in Conecuh County.

Crews methodically search the Conecuh river Tuesday afternoon, in hopes of finding a missing man.

Sheriff Heath Jackson with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office told News 5 what happened Monday afternoon.

“That male subject tried to cross the river he was going to swim across climb the rocks and jump back in and the rocks were too slippery so when he turned around to come back he got into distress and went under water in one of the deeper holes in the river” Jackson said.

Sheriff Heath Jackson confirmed that the man went under Monday afternoon.

“We’ve been searching the river with sonar and dragging it just trying to see if we can locate his remains” Jackson said.

Johnny Godwin, a long time local who told News 5, that he’s witnessed similar situations like this one in the exact area.

“I’ve been a part of pulling a few people out here and i have been apart of saving a few people in the same area where they went out there and got distressed” Godwin said.

The search will resume Wednesday morning. Family members of the missing swimmer tell us that the swimmer is a 60 year old man from Brewton

This is a developing story. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available.

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