GOSHEN -- Search and rescue efforts continue for a man who went into Richland Creek after running from a deputy who had used a stun gun on him Feb. 28, according to the Washington County sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office listed James Valles, 35, of Elkins as a missing person on March 4.
Cpl. Addison Webb stopped to check a white 2003 Toyota Camry parked beside the east Twin Bridge near Wyman Road about 12:10 a.m. Feb. 28, according to his preliminary report. The car was empty.
He saw a man running on the Arkansas 45 embankment and lost sight of him in the tree line, Webb wrote. Officials have not identified the man.
Webb then found another man, believed to be Valles, hiding under the north part of the ledge. The man ran and Webb followed, closing in on him and giving several commands to stop. When the man continued to run, Webb used a stun gun on him, according to the report. Webb was the only deputy there at the time.
Valles fell forward and rolled down the hill, then got up and began running toward the river, according to the report. Webb lost sight of him and heard a splash.
Webb wrote that he saw Valles floating north in the creek.
More deputies arrived to help Webb. It had been raining heavily for days and the creek was high, according to written reports.
Search teams looked in and around 5 miles of the creek and White River over the next few days. Search and rescue teams used a helicopter and the sheriff's office boat equipped with sonar. The searches halted late Monday and resumed Friday, said Kelly Cantrell, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
Deputies found a marijuana pipe, methamphetamine pipe, bags and containers of about 29 grams of marijuana and 0.7 of a gram of methamphetamine in the abandoned Camry, according to deputies' reports. A backpack had documents inside with the names of Valles and Alan Fleener, 49.
Valles is on probation, according to the sheriff's office reports.
Deputies spoke to people over the past week who know Valles, and they hadn't seen or heard from him since midafternoon Feb. 27.
State Desk on 03/11/2018