Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995 TAG: 9506130091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Up and down the banks of Tinker Creek, the dogs walked and the rescue workers watched. The dogs pointed their noses toward the water; the people scoured the rapids where a 52-year-old man disappeared Saturday night.
But there was still no sign of William Snyder late Monday. His family huddled near the creekbed, hugging each other and waiting. Snyder grew up on Wise Avenue Southeast, several blocks from the creek. He loved to fish and he loved to swim.
``He was always down here doing, messing around here. ... He was always in the water,'' said his daughter, Pam Dodson, 27. ``He was an excellent swimmer.''
``This doesn't seem real,'' said Kirk Dodson, Pam's husband, as he watched rescue workers lower a canoe carrying a Newfoundland dog and two divers.
``It's going to be hard on her,'' he said of his wife. ``Her and her dad were real close.''
After Saturday's thunderstorms and downpours, William Snyder and a friend went to Tinker Creek to swim. Police say there was evidence that the two had been drinking.
As the creek's waters swelled and the rapids quickened, Snyder edged closer. The friend warned Snyder about the rising water, police said.
Snyder replied, ``See you later,'' then dived in, Vinton Police Chief Rick Foutz said. His friend saw him bob up and down several times before the water swept him under.
Snyder is a former steelworker who had recently fallen on hard times that the family declined to discuss. As Pam Dodson waited Monday, she remembered her father's affinity for the outdoors and his talent for building things.
He is a craftsman who built his daughter a log cabin made of matches for a sixth-grade project. He is a fisherman who taught her how to bait a hook.
``He always wanted a boy,'' said Dodson, one of his four daughters. ``He tried four times, and I guess you could say we were his boys.''
Sunday, search dogs from Northern Virginia and Richmond came in to seek any scent from Snyder. Human scent rises to the water's surface, said handler Walt Hawkins of Richmond.
Hawkins' golden retriever, Sarah, and a rottweiler named Zeke had picked up Snyder's scent a quarter-mile upstream from the bridge that runs over Tinker Creek.
Divers focused there for much of the day. The water temperature was between 60 and 70 degrees and the likelihood that Snyder would be found alive in the creek was ``slim to none,'' according to authorities.
Divers had zero visibility in the muddy water. Unless they actually touched a body, it would be nearly impossible to find. The rapids were so strong the divers attached themselves to a safety line strung across the river.
``We try to caution people,'' Hawkins said. ``Even in low water, your feet can get jammed in a crevice and the force of the water will hold you down.''
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB