After weather hampered much of the planned Wednesday search efforts for the two children who remained missing following Saturday evening’s flash flooding, crews were ramping up efforts to resume Thursday morning.
“We are in the process of getting dog teams and having the dive unit check the conditions of the river to see if they can get into the water today,” police said in a statement.
Crews also plan to bring in heavy equipment Thursday to comb through large debris piles from the flash flooding, police said.
Searchers have been looking for Matilda (Mattie) Sheils, 2, and Conrad Sheils, 9 months, from the land, in the water, and in the air since Saturday.
The massive ground search led to crews moving to further check waterways, including the Delaware Canal and the Delaware River.
Search crews from around Pennsylvania and New Jersey have responded to assist.
Enzo Depiero, a 78-year-old man from Newtown Township; Susan Barnhart, a 53-year-old woman from Titusville, New Jersey; Katheryn “Katie” Seley, a 32-year-old woman from Charleston, South Carolina; Yuko Love, a 64-year-old woman from Newtown Township; and Linda Depiero, a 74-year-old woman from Newtown Township, were identified victims who were killed in the flooding.
All five victims’ autopsies were conducted on Monday and showed that each of the victims succumbed to drowning as a direct result of the flash flood’s relentless force, Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck said.
