Three Arkansas State University students who went missing while on a spelunking trip in northeast Arkansas have been found safe, the university confirmed Thursday evening.
In a statement around 5:40 p.m., Arkansas State University Acting Chancellor Lynita Cooksey said the university is grateful for successful efforts to find the students, who went missing while in a cave in northeast Arkansas.
"On behalf of all the faculty, students and staff of Arkansas State, I want to thank the rescue teams of Independence County and all the volunteers who came forward to assist," Cooksey said.
ASU senior Casey Sherwood, 25, was leading two first-year students from Japan — Daiki Itoh, 19, of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, and Daisuke Takagi, 18 of Kawagoe Hi-who, Hyogo — in exploring the Blowing Cave area near Cushman, according to a news release.
When the three didn't return at their scheduled time, Sherwood's wife, Katherine, called ASU's campus police Wednesday night, said Bill Smith, a university spokesman.
Campus police then notified the Independence County sheriff's office. The county's emergency management office as well as neighboring agencies spent most of Thursday searching for the students in the cave.
Cooksey thanked the ASU community and area residents for their thoughts and prayers during the hours-long search. She added that as of Thursday evening, the university was awaiting more details from county officials on the ground in Independence County.
Additional information, including the students' conditions, was not immediately available Thursday evening.
Officials with the Independence County sheriff's office did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.