According to police, search efforts have been going on for over 36 hours.
SHERMAN, Texas — Crews are currently searching for a missing 8-year-old girl who was involved in a crash near Highway 75 on Christmas Eve in Sherman, Texas.
The Sherman Police Department responded to the scene near Highway 75 around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Lieutenant Sam Boyle told WFAA a family of six from Oklahoma was headed to McKinney for the holiday, when they likely hydroplaned off the highway near Taylor Street, got trapped in a drainage ditch and traveled down Post Oak Creek towards Houston Street.
Police said the father in the family died, and his 8-year-old daughter is still missing as of late afternoon Thursday. The mother, and her 3, 5, and 16-year-old children were rescued.
“They’re wonderful people, which makes this so much harder,” Boyle told WFAA Thursday.
Boyle said it was raining very hard at the time of the crash, and that three other people have died from similar accidents in the same drainage ditch over the last several years.
On Wednesday, a change.org petition was created imploring the state to add guardrails to the ditch.
More rain on Thursday hindered the search for the little girl. Police had to pull crews that were in the creek out of it, and instead, they watched the water from the ground.
“So we still have teams out there, who are watching and looking and monitoring,” Boyle said.
By late afternoon Thursday, crews began to deploy back into the water. Boyle said people from all over town continue to show up offering to search.
“We just ask that let our task force work this and don’t go out and take matters into your own hands,” he said, noting adding more people into the water who are not first responders could lead to more emergencies.
If you want to help, Boyle said there is something we can all do.
“Pray that the weather cooperates and pray she is found quickly,” Boyle said.
His officers are praying too. Not just for that little girl to be found quickly, but also that she’s somehow still alive.
“Truthfully? We’re holding out hope,” Boyle told WFAA. “However strange that might seem.”