JANESVILLE (WKOW) --- Crews will be back on the Rock River Monday searching for Dakota Giese, who fell into the river Saturday night and hasn't been seen since.
It was along the banks of the rock river, when authorities received a call from a witness, who police have identified as Walter Vankraanen, about a man in the river.
“The Janesville Fire department and the Janesville Police Department were dispatched to the area of the river north of the Centerway Bridge,” said Sgt. Mark Ratzlaff, with the Janesville Police Department. “A witness had saw a white male subject, later identified as Dakota Giese had slipped into the river.”
Ratzlaff said Giese swam or paddled to the middle of the river.
“The witness was yelling for him to come back towards the bank. When he turned around, he went under and that we the last he saw of him,” he said.
The search and rescue teams were deployed, but still, no trace of the 21-year-old.
“Janesville Fire put boats in the water and requested assistance from the Rock County Sheriff's Office's dive team. They sonared the area. they checked the area with divers,” Ratzlaff said.
At night fall, authorities were forced to suspend the search. Right now, police are calling this an accidental drowning.
“There's no evidence to indicate any foul play,” Ratzlaff said.
But the investigation into Giese's disappearance remains open.
“We did a press release encouraging people to call in with any tips. Certainly, if he did get out of the river and somebody has seen him, we would want to know what that so we can followup on that,” Ratzlaff said.
The family also plans to do their own search Monday morning. People who were involved in the search for Jordan White, who went missing last fall on the river, are planning to assist with the search.
For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/35951877/2017/07/24/search-for-dakota-giese-to-continue-monday