A search for a missing Highway Patrol trooper who was last seen near a lake in northwest Missouri has become now a recovery effort, authorities said Tuesday.
The patrol released a statement shortly after midnight that said a recovery effort for Trooper Fred Guthrie Jr. would resume at daylight.
The patrol said Guthrie and his dog were on Missouri River flood duty and were helping with relief efforts near Big Lake when both were apparently swept away by swift flood waters.
Guthrie was with the Water Patrol Division. The 46-year-old was last seen early Monday afternoon near Big Lake, which is about 10 miles southwest of Mound City.
His vehicle, with its boat attached, was found later that day.
"He was really just a fun guy to be around and just had a great, great personality," Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the Missouri Highway Patrol said according to .
The News-Press said his dog, a five-year-old German Shepherd, was named Reed.