Lake Harrison has been drained and dredged but the bodies of a missing couple haven't been found, said Harrison Police Chief Chris Graddy.
"The lake has been cleared," Graddy said Friday. "At this time they are not in the lake."
John and Amy Villines have been missing since a Nov. 30 flash flood swept their SUV off Highland Avenue, just south of Capps Road. The vehicle was found lodged against a bridge over a drainage ditch near Ridge Avenue, about a half-mile from the lake. One window was broken out.
Authorities believed the couple escaped from the vehicle but water carried them downstream, through a tunnel under downtown Harrison and into Lake Harrison.
Lake Harrison is formed by a weir, or low dam, on Crooked Creek.
After a thorough search of the drainage ditch, tunnel and Crooked Creek below the lake, the city began draining the lake in mid-December.
Mayor Jerry Jackson said the lake isn't totally drained. Rain kept filling it back up. In some places the lake is dry, but in others it has 3 or 4 feet of water.
Jackson said the water level was low enough that an excavator could be moved into the lake bed to scoop up debris on the bottom.
"We really thought yesterday we were going to find them," Jackson said Friday. "We know 100 percent they're not there. It's so mind-boggling. We, honest to God, don't know now. It's got us all so confused. We'll never quit [looking for them]."
Graddy said the drainage ditch that flows into the lake and Crooked Creek below the lake will be searched again. Jackson said dogs will be taken in to walk the creek banks and also will be taken down the creek in a boat.
"For 40 days, people have scoured the shores, they floated the creek, we dug out the lake, we've done everything we know to do," Graddy said. "We're at a loss."
Harrison Assistant Fire Chief Darrell Pace said John Villines' T-shirt, sweatpants and wallet were found below the weir on Crooked Creek shortly after the search began.
Jackson said the Villineses made a 911 call Nov. 30 saying their vehicle had been swept off the road. A witness in another vehicle also called 911, he said.
Jackson said some people have speculated that the couple are still alive somewhere, but that's not the case.
"We are 100 percent certain this was a tragedy," he said.
Metro on 01/19/2019