Hope Fades for Missing Camper

Hope Fades for Missing Camper


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Sam Penrod ReportingHope is fading for a camper who disappeared from a Morgan campground.

The man has been missing since Sunday morning, and there is still no sign of him.

Hope Fades for Missing Camper

The leading theory of what happened to him, is that he fell into the river after he'd been drinking.

The search was called off for the night Monday, after searchers spent the day looking for Jimmy Campion. The hardest question right now is trying to find out what has happened to him.

Searchers in kayaks went up and down the Weber River, looking for any sign of 59-year-old Jimmy Campion. Campion is a carpenter and a former Hill Air Force Base jet mechanic.

Searching the river has become the most probable area to look for him, after he was last seen at 3 am Sunday.

Kevin Edwards, Morgan County Sheriff's Office: "They are just assuming if he was intoxicated and went over by the river, he may have fallen in. The river is not very far from where they are camping and it's pretty high and swift right now."

Hope Fades for Missing Camper

Campion joined several friends for a campout near the Round Valley Golf Course near Morgan on Saturday night. It was a night of food and fun. But everyone admits they were drinking, and now fear that Campion accidentally fell in.

Lisa Shelton, Friend: "You hope for the best. You hope maybe he's hitched a ride somewhere, or with somebody, but he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't leave his dog."

Campion's dog and his car were still there the next morning. His friends looked all over the campground and could not find him.

Lisa Shelton, Friend: "You hear about this stuff on holiday weekends, drownings, and people getting hurt. But you never think it's going to happen to a group you are with. He's just been a good friend of ours for a long, long time."

Searchers who spent their holiday searching for Campion want to bring closure to his friends and family.

John Sohl, Weber County Search & Rescue: "We're not going to rescue this guy. It's pretty clear, unless he's off somewhere else, and just taken off, which is not very likely. We're rescuing the family at this point, and so we're helping to put closure on a thing. It's an important part for them. That's who we're working for today."

Because the river is running so high, the search Tuesday was expected to take place on the banks of the river.

And investigators are still looking at other possibilites of where he could be, just in case. But still, they do not suspect foul play.

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