Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310179
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B/1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY and LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem rescue and fire crews - and concerned family and friends - spent nearly all day looking for Marcus Baldwin, a 16-year-old Salem High School student.
Baldwin was a passenger in the car that skidded off Kessler Mill Road in Salem Friday afternoon, flipped over and went down a 40-foot cliff. The car was driven by Susan Ashley Carter, 16, a junior at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County.
Salem Police Lt. R.E. Gray said Carter was in stable condition but was unconscious at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She is the daughter of Samuel R. Carter III of Salem and Suzanne Thornhill of Hunting Hills in Roanoke County.
Carter's parents could not be contacted because they were at the hospital.
Gary and Della Baldwin were joined by family members and friends at their East Salem home as they awaited word on their son, a member of the high school baseball team and a state archery champion.
The Baldwins have asked for more volunteers to help search for their son.
Salem Police Lt. Glenn Robinson said an investigation indicates that Carter and Baldwin had been at Star City Archery, near the accident site, then drove to a convenience store at Hanging Rock and were returning to the archery firm when the accident occurred at about 2:30 p.m.
The search is being centered in the area of Mason Creek not far from where the car entered the water.
Sarah Owen, a dog handler from Blacksburg, said her search dog, B.J., showed interest in an area near a low-water bridge. Owen, a member of the Blacksburg Rescue Squad and the Botetourt County Mounted Search and Rescue Unit, joined Saturday's search about 8 a.m.
A small plane and Roanoke Memorial Hospital's Life-Guard 10 helicopter also were used in the search. About two miles of the creek's bank were searched, from the accident site in the 1100 block of Kessler Mill Road to the creek's confluence with the Roanoke River near Lowe's on Apperson Drive.
Salem Fire Chief Dan Hall said fire and rescue workers were hampered by high, murky water. The water level subsided by late afternoon, but the water still was murky because of the soil washed into the creek by Friday's rain.
Generally Mason Creek is fairly clear, searchers said.
The search teams used the Top Rail nightclub as headquarters. The car entered the creek near the Top Rail and came to rest almost behind the club building. The creek's bank is quite steep in the area, which made the rescue of Carter all the more difficult.
A searcher wearing a harness and carrying dragging equipment, tried to explore under a bridge but was unsuccessful because the water was too swift.
"The current about took him away," said Lt. Ray Houff of the Salem Rescue Squad.
The search will resume this afternoon at about 1, police said.
"We'll be able to see a little better," Robinson said.
by CNB