Divers Helicoptered From Harford Flood Search: Police

BEL AIR, MD — Two divers were airlifted Sunday after searching for a woman in Harford County who went missing during Friday's flood. They had been diving in a quarry at the time, officials said.

The divers were flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center "after suffering difficulties while diving in the quarry," Maryland State Police said in a statement before 3 p.m.

Police said the search was suspended before 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, noticeably earlier than the conclusion of the search on Friday, when it ended at 11 p.m., and Saturday, when crews wrapped up at 8 p.m.

According to WJZ, the divers from Baltimore who were airlifted were assisting in the search when they had to quickly surface from the quarry, where conditions are volatile in part due to the murkiness of the water.

"Visibility is almost nothing," Maryland State Police spokesman Ron Snyder told WJZ, adding the area they were searching in the Churchville Quarry was at least 45 to 50-feet deep in the area.

Search crews are continuing to look for a woman who tried to help a driver in distress Friday night during the flash flood on Calvary Road/MD 136 at James Run Road, police reported. She has been identified as Melissa Ann Lehew, 34, by multiple media outlets.

The driver she had been trying to assist — Daniel Samis, 67, of Abingdon — was located Saturday a quarter of a mile from the site of the flood, officials said.

Based on witness accounts, police said that Samis was in a vehicle on the Broad Run Bridge that had become submerged up to the roof when a truck pulled up with a man and woman who tried to assist with a rope.

"At some point, the woman trying to assist fell and the man with her helped her up only for her to fall again before being swept over the bridge and into the rushing water of Broad Run," police said in a statement.

The driver of the truck went to a nearby quarry to search for the victim and call 911, and while he was on the phone he saw the disabled vehicle go over the side of the bridge and be swept down Broad Run, police said. The Churchville Quarry is located in the area.

Maryland State Police said that the following agencies were assisting in the search efforts for the missing woman: Harford County Department of Emergency Services; Maryland State Police dive team, criminal enforcement division and K9 unit; Maryland Natural Resources Police; Baltimore County Police Department; Baltimore Police Department; Bay Area Rescue K9; Chesapeake Search and Rescue; and Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S. Search and Rescue.

SEE ALSO:

• Victim IDed In Harford Flood, Search To Resume Sunday: Police
• Police Update Number Of Missing Victims In Harford Flash Flood
• Photos Of Harford County Flood Damage From 2018 Flash Flood
• At Least 25 Water Rescues In Harford County Reported During Storm

File photo by Elizabeth Janney.