BIG LAKE, MO (KCTV) -
The gut-wrenching search for a missing Missouri Highway Patrol trooper continues Friday for the fifth day in Big Lake, Mo.
The search continues for trooper Fred Guthrie, and many troopers with the Missouri Highway Patrol have been scouring the waters of the Missouri River since Monday.
Resources from across the state have poured in to help with the search.
The focus has been on the area near Hwy. 118 where Guthrie's vehicle was found abandoned on Monday.
The strong current there eroded a crater 30 feet deep, and that is where crews found Reed, Guthrie's patrol K-9 on Tuesday.
Troopers are staying optimistic and say Guthrie was an excellent trooper, but an even better man.
"It is difficult. We're friends with Fred, working together quite often and then when something like this happens it is difficult. I think the difficulty after he is found and recovered, that will really sink in. Right now they're just concentrating on the task at hand, which is the recovery," said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon.
Troopers tell KCTV5 they will keep looking for Guthrie until he is found.
They feel it is very important to provide closure for his family as well as hopefully finding some clue as to how an experienced water patrol officer ended up in the raging floodwaters.
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