Community Launches Search for Teen in Des Plaines River After Authorities Halt Efforts

MELROSE PARK, IL — A community search will begin this afternoon for a teen who went missing after he jumped into the Des Plaines River Saturday. On Sunday, authorities halted the official search for Cameron Sanders, 16, who has been missing since he jumped from a railroad bridge into the Des Plaines River along with two friends. His family is looking for an explanation and told WGN he does not know how to swim and likely made the jump due to peer pressure.

Authorities halted the search for Sanders around 4 p.m. after deploying helicopters, boats and canines to help with the search. His family says not enough was done to locate Cameron Sanders. A friend of the family told ABC 7 that the teen’s mother and her daughter were wading through mud in the woods near the river to locate Sanders in parts of the riverside where crews were not searching.

The three boys jumped into the Des Plaines River after climbing through a makeshift hole in a chain link fence.

Click for more details about the community search for Cameron Sanders.

>>Image via Cameron Sanders' Facebook Page