Missing Arkansas teen's body found on bank of canal after days of searching

The body of a missing Arkansas teenager has been found near an area where search teams had combed over for more than three days in southeast Lincoln County.

Lincoln County Sheriff Leonard Hogg said that Kameron Tarlton, 15, of Gould was found by Tri-County Search and Rescue about 9:38 a.m. on the south bank of Kersh Canal about a quarter mile southeast from where his ATV was located early on in the search.

That search and rescue team represents volunteers from Ashley, Desha and Chicot counties.

Tarlton was last heard from about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported. During that conversation, Tarlton told his sister that he was on his way home from a friend’s house.

Search efforts continued through Wednesday morning, with assistance from friends, family and community volunteers.

On Tuesday, inmates from the Lincoln County jail in an effort to control water flow used sandbags to build a temporary dam, allowing water levels in the rain-swollen canal to recede. The dam was later breached, and water began to rise again before the current was once again slowed, Lincoln County Chief Deputy Bo Hudson said.

Hogg estimated that the water level in the area of the canal where Tarlton's body was found was between 3 and 4 feet deep.

Hudson said Tarlton is believed to have died of an apparent drowning. No foul play is suspected at this point in the investigation, he said.

Tarlton's body has been transported to the state Crime Laboratory to determine a cause of death, according to the sheriff's office.

Check back with Arkansas Online for updates and read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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