NEW ORLEANS — Some volunteers are still holding out hope, as they continue to search for the last of three children, who slipped into the river nearly four weeks ago.
And they continue, even as a large scale search has to make a difficult decision to end its efforts today.
When three children were missing, and feared drowned in the Mississippi River, family and friends began searching. The United Cajun Navy volunteered for weeks. And then when the bodies of Kevin Poole, and Brandy Wilson were found, people across the country wanted to help find eight-year-old Ally Wilson Berry.
“People with drones, search dogs, on horse back, ATVs, pilots. I'm a pilot. I flew one of the family members around the search area a couple of weeks ago, trying to look at river currents and things,” said Brian Trascher, Vice-President and Spokesman for the United Cajun Navy.
Trascher says everyone in the group is a volunteer. So for now they will have to suspend their search for the little girl.
“You can only keep them deployed for so long before they have to go back to their own lives and families and jobs. We appreciate all their help and support, but at this time we're just not able to keep them all together,” said Trascher.
This comes at a time when Louisiana Second District Congressman Troy Carter is introducing measures in hopes to prevent tragedies like this.
“This study would give us an opportunity the have the Corps of Engineers come up with real life safety measures, rather sirens, signage, or fencing, or early warnign systems ,or deterrents, reminding people about how dangerous the river can be,” said Carter.
There are still people out on the river looking, hoping. They are volunteers connected to the family while others are people with drones.. Not far from that Westbank spot, the parents spent the day at Ally's school.
At Tubman Montessori on Thursday morning, there's something called a moving up ceremony for all the grades, but there were special honors today for second grader Ally. Her parents were there to accept those certificates and honors, but they were also there for three of their other children.
The school asked for their privacy, so that parents could celebrate the accomplishments of some of their own, showing their pride for them, while trying to hide their broken hearts.
The Cajun Navy says they will come back and look for Ally if there is new evidence of where her body may be.