River search for missing West Newton teen called off after no results
A search of the Youghiogheny River near West Newton was called off late Tuesday night after crews did not find a teen who ran away from her home in the borough that afternoon.
Firefighters from West Newton and Collinsburg deployed boats to the river after dogs from the Greensburg bloodhound team stopped at the riverbank during their search for 16-year-old Donna Long, a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor said.
NEW DETAILS: Here is a picture of the missing girl, Donna Long. She was last seen at her home in West Newton. https://t.co/Vqaw1rMFyT pic.twitter.com/cdBxPZ925u
— WPXI (@WPXI) June 26, 2019
The girl left her home at about 1:30 p.m. and was reported missing at about 5 p.m., police said. She was last seen wearing a gray tank top and white pants.
The search was called off around 11 p.m.
Rostraver firefighters assisted in a search Tuesday evening that included sections of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail between West Newton and Smithton.
Searchers “didn’t come up with anything” when they investigated a tip that a female was seen entering a burned-out house in the Elizabeth Township village of Smithdale, in Allegheny County, West Newton Officer Michael Stefko said.
“Originally we were searching the trail with our police officer just going on what the family said and where she liked to go,” West Newton Fire Chief Craig Sanner explained. “I called for the bloodhounds to come in. They did find several hits. Some of those hits were over the riverbanks, so we had our boat and Collinsburg’s boat in the water to check those out, but we found no signs of anybody coming over the hillside. The riverbank’s pretty muddy.”
Sanner said he would speak with West Newton police about resuming the search Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information about the missing teen should call 911.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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