Day 3: Search for missing women on James River after Bosher’s Dam incident

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The search continues for two women who went over Bosher’s Dam in the rushing waters of the James River Monday.

Multiple local agencies will be out on the water again today after searching for the young women for hours yesterday.

Crews will be searching again starting around 7 a.m. after they went a little farther than originally planned yesterday. Officials said they will searching from the dam all the way to Powhite Parkway.

Henrico Police, Richmond Fire and several other agencies searched on the river and in the air for 23-year-old Lauren Winstead and 28-year-old Sarah Erway yesterday.

Police said the two women were floating on the river when they missed their exit to Robious Landing in the strong currents and went over the dam, which has a 12-foot drop.

It has been 36 hours since Richmond Police responded to a group of kayakers and floaters stranded in the James River.

8News drone video shows standup paddleboards and other inflatables churning at Bosher’s Dam just before the dam plummets 12 feet. Those devices are confirmed to be related to the group of 12 that were on the water Monday.

Nine of them were rescued and one person got out of the water on their own and went to the hospital.

As the search continues for Winstead and Erway, Henrico Police Lieutenant Matt Pecka said crews are cautious of how high the water level is.

“It’s very nice but there’s a lot, the elements alone with the fast-moving water as you can see and logs and debris,” he said. “It’s just a dangerous place to be until those water levels subside to a much manageable level.”

Sarah Erway’s pastor, Vander Warren, Jr. and his wife Winnie have known Erway and her family for years.

“Tragedy is unspeakable. It just hits you so hard. We loved her mother so much, that not depressing, but sadness. Great sadness,” Warren, Jr. said.

“As a mother, there’s a huge hole in her heart,” Warren Jr.’s wife, Winnie said.