EAST LANSING, Mich. – Brendan Santo, 18, was last seen on Oct. 29 at Michigan State University.
UPDATE: Body believed to be Brendan Santo found in river months after disappearance
The Grand Valley State University freshman had traveled to East Lansing to spend time with friends the weekend of the University of Michigan vs. Michigan State University football game.
Read: Why wasn’t the dorm camera working the night Brendan Santo disappeared at Michigan State University?
Carolyn Matilda and Maura Binkert are two sophomores at MSU who can’t believe Santo is still missing.
“We hope they would have found him by now safe,” Carolyn Matilda said.
Michigan State Police officer Chris Rozman said there are 35 rescue divers from Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Washtenaw county sheriff’s department’s searching the Red Cedar River for any trace of the missing teen.
“It’s still super scary that nobody knows what happened,” Binkert said.
Each of the dive teams brings a set of divers and technology in addition to boats that are being used on the water, according to Rozman.
Teams have been using sonar equipment and dark vision goggles to search for clues.
“The depth of the river is 8-12 feet at some points. The visibility is 0-2 feet and there’s about a 5 to 6 mile per hour current,” Rozman said.
The search has not been called off.
“We understand at this point anything that we find in the river would be a recovery operation, but we are exploring other possibilities at this point as well. We are committed to this operation and to bringing Brendan home,” Rozman said.
Brendan Santo’s family is remaining optimistic.
“In addition we have had civilians reach out to offer their services for other search options and the task force is coordinating with them. We remain hopeful that Brendan will be found and be back home with us,” the family said.
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