Search for Missing Father and Son Continues Into Second Day

Update 2:

The search for a father and son who were reported missing while fishing on the Meramec River Tuesday has resumed for a second day. At this point, police said they scouring both the woods near the Pacific Palisades access point and the river itself. 

Update 1:

Emergency crews have called off search and rescue efforts on the Meramec River for the day at around 8 p.m. Wednesday as a father and son from Beach Park, Ill., remain missing. 

Michael Hill, 36, and David Hill, 16, were first reported missing at around 12:45 p.m. by Michael's wife, who said she had last seen them at the river access near Lost Hill Lane and Franklin Road by the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area.  

Several St. Louis agencies then launched search and rescue efforts in response with South County Fire deploying a boat to comb the river and the St. Louis Metro Air Unit checking from the skies. 

St. Louis County Police Officer Randy Vaughn told Patch that the department's crimes against person unit had also been dispatched to the river.

A press release from the agency stated that "there is nothing at this time that has led investigators to believe an accidental drowning has taken place."

According to an account in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Michael and David Hill seemed to have vanished out of thin air. The woman and her grandson had walked to the river ahead of the pair, who remained behind at a parking lot gathering their fishing gear. 

The grandson then become scared, so they turned and headed back. When they arrived, the vehicle remained but the father and son had disappeared, along with their fishing gear. 

An officer at the scene told the Post-Dispatch that Michael Hill has a cell phone but calls to it have not been answered. 

Police described Michael Hill as a white male with a long beard wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans. David Hill is also a white male and was also last seen wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans. 

Original Story:

Emergency crews are out on the Meramec River this afternoon and evening near Pacific searching for a father and son who were reported missing today. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that police helicopters and rescue boats started combing the river after a woman called at about 12:45 p.m. to say she had last seen her husband and 16-year-old son about two hours prior. 

They were last scene near the river access point off Lost Hill Lane near the Pacific Palisades. 

Patch will update this story with more information as it becomes available.