Copiah man collecting supplies for rescue crews
Published 10:13 am Friday, June 10, 2016
A Crystal Springs man is collecting donations for the volunteers and workers who are searching for the second of two men missing in a landslide at a gravel pit in Copiah County.
Scotty Cline, an agent with Farm Bureau, said about 100 to 150 people are at the site, digging through the mud and slush to aid in the search.
Rescue crews found the body of one of the Green Brothers’ workers early Thursday. Officials have not said whether it is Emmitt Shorter or James “Dee” Hemphill.
State emergency officials said the men were operating heavy equipment for Green Brothers at a pit in Crystal Springs when they were buried in 10 feet to 12 feet of mud, slush and sluice about 11:30 a.m. on June 3.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency director Lee Smithson said rescue crews found the body about 1:30 a.m. and it was pulled out of the excavator just before 7 a.m.
Volunteers and crews are continuing to search for the other man.
Cline is collecting hand sanitizer, small towels, Gatorade and Mountain Dew for the searchers. He took 200 cases of water to the site Thursday in one of the two trips he makes to the gravel pit daily to take donations.
Donations can be dropped off at Cline’s office at 102 North Jackson St. in Crystal Springs. He’ll also pick up donations in Brookhaven if he needs to, he said. Call 601-892-5111 for more information.
“The area is so large and it’s such a tedious task,” he said. “They’re doing a lot of work by hand to make sure they find him, shoveling around the edges and looking through every piece of dirt here.”
He said Crystal Springs is a close-knit community and the men were well known.
“We’re in a crisis and tragedy has happened,” he said. “We’re trying to get through all this together. The community has reacted just like they should have. It’s just like everybody’s family. When something like this happens, it’s like it is yours. We want the closure to happen.”
Smithson said the search is an around-the-clock operation.
“From here on out now, our efforts will redouble to find the other missing worker,” Smithson said.
Heavy pumps were brought in Monday to remove mud and slurry caused by rain at the landslide site.