LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. (KERO) — Roughly two months ago missing person Christina Murphys’ car was pulled from the Kern river in Lake Isabella. Though the car was recovered, her body wasn’t.
- Christina Murphy was reported missing on July 22.
- Juan Heredia says this is the seventh missing person he has searched for by diving.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Roughly two months ago missing person Christina Murphys’ car was pulled from the Kern river in Lake Isabella. Though the car was recovered, her body wasn’t.
Now, a diver is trying to find it himself.
It’s not the first trip this year to Lake Isabella for Diver Juan Heredia – who made the six hour drive from his home in Central California on Monday to dive the Kern River.
“This is going to be my seventh case that I'm searching for. I started in Stockton with Xavier Martinez,” Heredia said.
Juan Heredia is not with any law enforcement agency. He's a private scuba instructor, and says he started to dive in bodies of water to search for missing people.
He came to the Kern River Valley in September after two people were swept away in the Kern River on Labor day this year, and again when he heard about the case of Christina Murphy.
“I feel that I have the skills and I want to do it for the community,” Heredia says.
Christina Murphy went missing on July 22nd of this year. The Next day KCSO found pieces of the car near the Kern River and 178 in Lake Isabella. Due to high flows, they did not attempt to remove the car until September 14th. After removing the car, they learned Murphy was not inside.
“My plan is to start where we found the car, and then I’m going to scuba dive as much as we can,” Heredia explained.
He said he plans to search for about an hour today, then return tomorrow - potentially going all the way to the mouth of the canyon in Bakersfield.
Meanwhile, in a statement KCSO said their search for Murphy’s body along the Kern River is ongoing.
“It's a limited and continued search. Teams are still continuously conducting hikes in the area and drone flights are being conducted to attempt to locate. At this point, there have been no remains of Murphy that have been located.”
-Lor Meza, Public Information Officer for KCSO
Heredia says he believes he has the skills to locate Murphy.
“As soon as I find Christina I'm going to call 911 and then know I found her. I hope I find her.”
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