Townville man missing after fall into Whitewater River

Rescue workers searching 21-year-old

By Kelly Davis / Independent-Mail
June 30, 2003

MOUNTAIN REST, S.C. — Rescue workers searched through Sunday night and all day Monday but still had not found a 21-year-old Townville man last seen by friends trying to escape swift water above the Lower Whitewater Falls in northern Oconee County.

David Purdy’s mother was at the Bad Creek parking lot Monday night waiting for news from the searchers, said Henry Gordon, Oconee County Emergency Management Director. The lot is serving as a staging area for approximately 55 search and rescue personnel from North and South Carolina who have been trekking through the sometimes treacherous landscape in search of the missing man.

Mr. Purdy and six of his friends hiked to the river from the parking lot Sunday evening, Mr. Gordon said. He and three others left the group and walked down the river to a narrow point of fast current, which Mr. Purdy attempted to jump.

"He got caught in the current and couldn’t get out," Mr. Gordon said. "It’s very treacherous going down and he washed through the first rapid, which is 15 feet down. That’s the last time his friends saw him."

One of the hikers with a cell phone called authorities. Some of the hikers, most of them Clemson students on summer break, also were still in the area Monday, waiting for news from searchers.

Crews are looking in multiple areas below Mr. Purdy’s last known location. There is no indication that he went over the 100-foot waterfall below that point, but searchers aren’t ruling it out, Mr. Gordon said.

He said the hikers knew each other, most if not all of them working together. Mr. Purdy worked at The Galley restaurant at the Portman Marina west of Anderson, a security guard at the marina said Monday.

"We’ll continue looking as long as it takes," Mr. Gordon said. "We’re a little worried about the weather setting in."

He said there is a long history of people drowning at the falls. A hair-raising sign at the Upper Falls pleads with visitors to take care by listing the number of fatalities, he said.

"The river is very dangerous and people need to respect all these rivers," he said. "All rivers have danger spots in them."

The same danger faces rescue crews, and many of the people now searching for Mr. Purdy are specially trained to handle swift water and steep slopes, he said.

"These are well-trained people," he said. "A lot of people took off work today without pay. This is almost a volunteer search operation."