By Peter Kranenburg
Provo and Utah County law enforcement officials continued searching the Provo River Tuesday for a missing Provo man.
Sitha Say, a 22-year-old Provo resident, was reported missing Oct. 22. Say?s mother reported him missing after Provo police discovered the car when joggers reported a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot next to the Provo River.
Police found the car was registered to Say?s mother in American Fork. Say?s mother, Samkol Say, and her boyfriend reported Sitha missing after police found the car Oct. 22.
Provo Police followed up on the case Thursday at the request of family members and decided to search the river this week. Lt. Jerry Harper said searching the river was the next step because he has been missing for nearly three weeks.
?We are looking for a missing person, and not looking for a body,? Lt. Harper said. ?We have no idea if he is even there.?
In addition to about 18 people searching the water, Detective Hiatt Bean said planes flew over the river Monday. Searchers found a hat, Say?s car keys and his wallet along the river Monday. He said the discovery caused serious concern Say may have hurt himself or fallen in the river.
?It?d be nice if we could find something today,? Bean said. ?Part of the reason we?re doing this is, if we?re to show that he is somewhere else, we have to show that he?s not here.?
Bean said there is a good possibility Say?s body could be in the lake if it was ever in the river, but it?s not very probable. He said there are too many bends and snags in the river so the body would probably be caught up somewhere.
?A person that drowns goes through a series of changes,? Bean said. ?We?re at a stage where if he were in the water he would be floating unless he was snagged or caught under something. That?s why we?re going to the extent that we are.?
Bean said police would continue the investigation monitoring Say?s financial records and talking with friends and family.
?We?ve exhausted almost all of our resources,? Bean said. ?The sacrifice and the effort from numerous agencies has been tremendous to find this young man.?
Sitha lives with his father, Terry Say, in Provo about a mile from where his car was found. Terry said he saw his son leave the house in the morning Oct. 19. Sitha had told him he was going over to a friend?s house. Terry said his neighbors saw Sitha dropped off by a friend around 1 p.m, and then saw him get in his car and drive away.
Sitha?s mother, Samkol Say, said she visited her son in the afternoon Oct. 19. She asked him if was doing well and if he needed anything.
?He said ?Mom I love you and I?m trying to be a good kid like you want,?? Samkol said. ?That was the last time I saw him.?
Police finished the search of the river this afternoon and put up barricades near the bridge on the river to keep objects form moving downstream. Bean said police would monitor the barricades for a couple of days and then go from there.
?I think we?ve done all that we can here,? Bean said.