Police are searching for a missing swimmer they believe may have drowned near College Creek Monday night.
According to Stephanie Williams of the James City County Police Department, 23-year-old Tony Jimenez Garcia of Chesterfield went missing while swimming to a sandbar at College Creek near the Colonial Parkway.
At around 7:15 p.m. Monday, the National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and Virginia Marine Police began a rescue operation that turned into a recovery operation around 10:15 p.m., Williams said.
Williams said the search ended around 11 p.m. Monday and resumed Tuesday at 6 a.m.
Members of the local community also pitched in to aid the recovery effort. Suzanne Starbuck, 51, and her daughter Katherine, 13, brought enough food, water and Gatorade to feed recovery personnel and divers for both lunch and dinner.
The two are volunteers for the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Children of the Confederacy.
Harris Teeter in Williamsburg donated about half the food Suzanne Starbuck purchased, she said.
Garcia had been visiting College Creek with a church group before he went missing Monday. Members of the group include his family and friends. They waited at the creek all night in hopes of finding him, Williams said.
Garcia’s wife declined to comment on this story, saying “No thank you” and “God bless you.”
According to Williams, personnel from a total of 10 agencies were involved in the recovery operation. They were using a sonar scan device to search the waters for Garcia. Williams said the sonar shows shapes of objects, and divers will respond to the area if the sonar displays a dissimilar object.
“At this point our plan is to not stop until we locate him,” Williams said.
