Dexter Daily Statesman: Local News: Search continues for Bernie woman swept into icy waters near Powe (12/26/09)

Divers continued in Saturday's frigid temperatures to comb the waters of a drainage ditch on the south side of U Highway near the small community of Powe, searching for Shirley Stratton, a Bernie woman who was swept into the flood waters along the highway early Thursday morning while on her way to her job in Poplar Bluff.

Members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, with efforts led by Trooper Travis Templemire, the Missouri State Water Patrol, Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, and crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation were on hand throughout Thursday, Friday and into Saturday in a cooperative effort to locate the missing woman.

According to officials, Stratton had left her Bernie home at about 7:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, headed west on U Highway. Her vehicle reportedly hydroplaned while traveling in the rain about eight miles west of Bernie, and went into the high waters that is the drainage ditch running alongside the highway.

Two witnesses to the accident behind the Stratton vehicle stopped and attempted to rescue the woman, who reportedly was out of her vehicle in the water, but moments later became trapped near a culvert and was then swept away.

Five divers from the Missouri State Water Patrol were on the scene Saturday morning. The divers walked the receded then chest-high waters, sweeping poles back and forth on the ditch bottom.

A boat was lowered into the water at around noon Saturday as the Water Patrol began to dredge the ditch toward the St. Francis River. The vehicle went into the water about one mile from the river. The vehicle was recovered from the water on Christmas Eve, Thursday.

Family members, including Stratton's husband, John Wayne Stratton, and his sons, were on all-terrain vehicles searching the ditch banks into Saturday afternoon. Cousins of John Stratton, as well as volunteers from local communities, were also on hand walking the banks and taking orders from Stoddard County Sheriff's deputies who were helping with the search efforts. Temperatures hovered around 30 degrees in the area on Saturday with strong winds blowing. Ice had formed overnight along a portion of the ditch near the area where the Stratton vehicle had been submerged.

See video below depicting a portion of the search efforts. In the video, a boat is lowered into the ditch for the dredging process to begin by the Missouri State Water Patrol. In the accompanying photo, two divers are shown as they sweep the waters of the drainage ditch.

A complete story will appear in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Statesman.