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Southern Indiana river searched for missing 2-year-old girl

Duck hunters spotted the truck in the East Fork of the White River.
Duck hunters spotted the truck in the East Fork of the White River.

Crews spent a second day searching a river in southern Indiana on Saturday for a 2-year-old girl after her father was pulled from his partially submerged truck.

Emma Sweet’s father was hospitalized with hypothermia and has given differing stories about what happened to her to investigators since duck hunters spotted his truck about 6 a.m. Friday in the East Fork of the White River near Columbus, Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said.

Divers spent Saturday searching around where the truck when into the river for signs of Emma, while volunteer firefighters helped police officers on a ground search. Myers said a coat belonging to Emma was found about a mile downstream and investigators believed it was likely that she was in the water.

The girl’s mother and uncle were at the search site on Saturday, Myers said.

“I think they know it’s going to be more of recovering a body,” Myers said. “I think they understand that.”

Myers said investigators had only had brief conversations with Emma’s father, 39-year-old Jeremy Sweet of Columbus, because of his poor condition and he wasn’t certain about what led up to his truck entering the river off a 15-foot embankment. Emma was last seen with her father about noon Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s department.