By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Perryville, Tenn.—Law enforcement and rescue squads in Decatur County have been up all night searching for a teenager who is believed to have fallen into the Tennessee River from the Alvin C. York Bridge in Perryville.
Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd told WENK/WTPR this morning that the girl was believed to have fallen off the bridge around midnight. He said she and two of her friends were climbing the bridge to write graffiti on it.
Byrd said the girl’s family is at the scene.
Deputies with his department, along with TWRA, local rescue squads and local police departments have been searching all night and will continue to do so until she is found, he said.
“We ran the banks of the river downstream from the bridge looking for her about 12:30 p.m. last night and we ran them again when we had day light,” Byrd said.
The sheriff’s office looked into the possibility it was a hoax, he said, but one of the people with her confirmed that she did fall off the bridge. “And he is believed to be trustworthy,” he said.
It is an 80 foot drop, he said, “but we did have a case a year ago where someone fell and survived, so we’re hoping for the best.”
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