ORONO, Maine — Although Wednesday’s inclement weather prevented Maine Warden Service divers from resuming their search of the Penobscot River for a missing Maine Maritime Academy student, the effort to locate him continued by air and on the ground.
David Breunig, 21, of Westbrook has not been seen since leaving a residence in the Crosby Street neighborhood of Orono about 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to police. A report Tuesday indicated he may have fallen off a train trestle into the swift-flowing river.
Down East Emergency Medicine Institute Operations Director Richard Bowie said Wednesday that volunteers continue to comb the area around Ayers Island and that Down East Emergency Medicine Institute is using forward-looking infrared technology to scan the Penobscot River.
While forward-looking infrared usually is used at night because of its thermal imaging capabilities, Bowie said that the Down East Emergency Medicine Institute has been using it in the daytime because it provides crisp, clear black and white images that have proven especially helpful when searching bodies of water that are reflective. The equipment is carried in a Humvee and pointed at the water.
Bowie said that the Down East Emergency Medicine Institute plans to continue its search efforts daily from early morning until about 11 p.m. for at least a week, unless Breunig is found in the meantime.
Bowie said that about 10 Down East Emergency Medicine Institute volunteers spent Wednesday searching the riverbanks as well as the water.
After two full days of fruitless searches conducted on the ground, in the air and in watercraft by as many as 60 law enforcement officials and volunteers Sunday and Monday, the bottom of the swift-flowing river on Tuesday became the logical place to look as hopes for Breunig’s survival dimmed.
Lt. Dan Scott of the Maine Warden Service said Tuesday that police tracking dogs indicated Monday that “there could be somebody in the water” near the island. Game wardens told Portland television station WGME, CBS 13, that Breunig may have fallen off a train trestle into the river.
An Orono police official said they have taken their investigation as far as they could as of Wednesday.
“At this point, our investigation is complete, and we will await further developments from the Warden Service’s ongoing search efforts, primarily with aircraft,” Orono Police Chief Josh Ewing said.