UPDATE: Huffstutler’s body was found Friday morning.
UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Searches for Huffstutler have been suspended for the remainder of Thursday, according to Captain Pat Thomas with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office. According to Thomas, the divers have run out of oxygen and the search team cannot continue in the dark.
Hundreds of volunteers continue to search in Blount County for 19-year-old Allysa Huffstutler, a student at The University of Alabama, who has been missing since Wednesday, June 19.
Huffstutler, a public relations major and member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, was last seen with friends as they drifted on floats down the Locust Fork of the Warrior River on Wednesday.
Reports claim that Huffstutler, a trained lifeguard according to her Facebook page, went missing after several of the rafts in their party were turned over.
Max Armstrong, director of the Blount County Emergency Management Agency, said she did not surface after she fell into the water.
“She was floating with six other people and they came over a particular rough spot in the river, her float flipped and she didn’t surface,” he said. “They started searching with dive teams where she was last seen and they are going down river from there.”
Armstrong also said that there has not been a statement issued as to how late into the night they would continue the search.
“Dive teams are still in the water,” he said. “We will hopefully know more as the day continues.”
Lori Jenkins, a friend of Huffstutler, said that the community had rallied in the hope of finding her alive.
“Many people are changing their profile picture to Alyssa as a symbol of our faith that she will be found,” she said. “Alyssa is a very strong girl, she will not give up, neither will we”
As the community continues the search, Jenkins said that different rumors circulated but nothing official has been confirmed.
“Everyone is still searching,” she said. “So far there is nothing. Some people say they found footprints, shoes and clothes. We are all just still hoping for the best. God is with her.”