An Oklahoma basketball coach and father of four was found dead, and his 8-year-old daughter remains missing after the family’s car was swept away by raging floodwaters in Texas on Christmas Eve.
Will Robinson, a high school coach from Durant, Oklahoma, and his family were reportedly driving in their SUV on Tuesday morning when the vehicle left the roadway, got caught in a drainage ditch in Sherman, Texas, and was carried away by strong currents, CBS News reported.
All six family members were trapped inside, according to the Sherman Police Department. Robinson did not survive, while four other family members were rescued. The family’s 8-year-old daughter has not been found.
“We are still unsuccessful in our efforts to locate the 8-year-old girl,” Lieutenant Samuel Boyle of the Sherman Police Department told Fox News Digital. “We have identified a 15-mile stretch of creek downstream from where the vehicle stopped, and we have targeted that with the multi-jurisdictional task force.” Sherman police have not yet confirmed the identity of Robinson or his family, Boyle told Fox News Digital.
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Beloved high school coach and father Will Robinson and his family are pictured before their tragic accident on Christmas Eve. (Facebook/Will Robinson)
The search for the young girl, which authorities said had already covered seven miles of creek as of Wednesday, continues into its third day, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott approved state search and rescue teams to assist in finding the child.
“We are shifting our focus into the county, targeting some possible locations where we have not looked to as yet,” the Sherman Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, adding, “Our search will continue until dark today, then we will resume searching again before daylight.”
The cause of Tuesday’s accident was “a combination of a heavy downpour and accumulating of groundwater,” Boyle told Fox News Digital. “Somehow that caused the vehicle to leave the roadway and enter a drainage ditch… and the vehicle got caught in the flooding in the drainage ditch.”
“It’s a tragedy, it really is,” the lieutenant previously told KXII News 12.
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High school basketball coach Will Robinson, who was found dead after floodwaters swept away his family’s SUV on Christmas Eve. (Facebook)
“This is just devastating, and happening on Christmas Eve makes it unbearable,” Robinson’s cousin wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “Will was one of the good ones—a devoted husband and father, a beloved basketball coach, and just a great person…please keep the entire Robinson family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Numerous local and state agencies, including Texas Task Force 2, are working together in the search, police said. Boyle told Fox News Digital that the active search teams are “including canines and boat or watercraft teams.”
“In crises like these, we are blessed to serve a community that so badly wants to help in any way they can. We have dozens of first responders involved in this search, many with extensive training in searching in hazardous conditions,” Sherman police continued in their statement, adding that they currently do not need any additional volunteers.
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Will Robinson and his family are pictured before their tragic accident on Christmas Eve. (Facebook/Will Robinson)
The Sherman Police Department asked anyone with noteworthy information about the case to call their non-emergency phone number at 903-892-7290.
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“My recommendation is don’t try and drive through significant standing water. You never know how deep it is, and vehicles are not designed to do that,” Boyle told Fox News Digital in a message to all drivers in wet or flooding conditions. “Once you have lost control of your ability to drive your car, then you are simply at the mercy of the water. And it can be very, very dangerous for occupants of the vehicle.
“If you cannot continue down the roadway because of the large standing water that is going to cross it… stop and find another way around it. Call local police. Call local emergency services, and ask for recommendations if you aren’t familiar with the area.”
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