River search turns up no sign of missing woman

Indiana Conservation officers were back on the West Fork of the White River on Wednesday with sonar equipment looking for signs of a missing Bloomfield woman.

The approximate two-hour search of the river area near the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, just west of Bloomfield, turned up no signs of 46-year-old Betty J. Carlton, who has not been seen since July 12, according to Conservation Officer Gregg Swanson.

Swanson and C.O. Tom Lahay from Sullivan County combed the water and the bank from a boat looking for Carlton, who hasn't been seen for nearly a month.

Swanson said there are confirmed reports that Cartlon was seen along the water's edge near the bridge on July12, but other reports from alleged witnesses haven't really substantiated that the person they reported seeing was actually Carlton.

C.O. Swanson said the case is still being treated as a missing person case under investigation by the Bloomfield Police Department.

The Indiana Conservation officers were called in to assist with the water search because they have the side-sonar equipment and are experienced on the river, Swanson told the Greene County Daily World on Wednesday night.

"It's not a drowning although it's presumed that she drowned. We don't even know for sure that she is in there (in the river)," he said. "We really can't rule out anything at this point."

Swanson explained that officers initially looked in the water and on the banks after initial reports were filed, but flooding conditions were present. Now that the waters have subsided, they wanted to take another look.

"The thought process was maybe she drowned and never surfaced because she was caught on something," he said. "We've been searching the river since it happened. We've run the river several times."

The Conservation officer said periodic searches on the river will continue.

"We will continue to be out on the river. As far as using a sonar unit, I don't know maybe we can try it again, but I feel like we did a really good search."

Swanson likened the search for a body in the river to "looking into a forest trying to look for somebody."

"You've got the trees and the limbs and all of that and now we are talking about a black and white sonar image. It's kind of hard to tell," he said.

The conservation officer said "under normal conditions" based on the river's current, the weather, the water temperature, what she had eaten prior going in -- if she was in the water -- factor in to how long a body might stay submerged.

"The other big factor is the river crested after she allegedly went in and flooded into fields and woods and all that kind of stuff around that time when she would have surfaced. There are many, many factors," he noted.

Swanson said officers talked to two fishermen that saw her supposedly floating down the river -- about 10 miles downstream from the bridge on July 13, but he added, "I haven't talked to anybody who truly said 'yeah, I saw her for sure and she was in the water. I never talked to anybody who said that."

He continued, "As far as I'm concerned the last report of her was standing underneath the bridge. I'm not saying that the people who saw what they saw down the river didn't see it. It just seems to me that is not as a far sure of thing than someone who talked to her on the banks. I'm not saying that the people down river didn't see something, someone or her. It's a possibility, but I can't really say for sure on that. It's more of a speculation I guess."

Call records at the Greene County Sheriff's Department give some limited clues as to Carlton's whereabouts on July 11 and July 12 before she was reported missing on Sunday.

Sometime around 2 a.m. on Friday, July 11, the GCSD received a report about a woman who was walking westbound in the eastbound lane of the Veterans Memorial Bridge on State Road 54 over White River just west of Bloomfield.

The reporting party didn't think the woman was acting quite right.

A Bloomfield police officer was dispatched to the area. He reported back that the woman in question was Carlton and he had spoken with her.

According to the call record, she told the officer she was on her way to Linton. She was on foot and was advised that walking to Linton at that hour might not be a good idea. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, black pants and glasses.

Then at 6:45 a.m. on July 11, the GCSD received another report from a driver who said a female had walked out in front of their vehicle and they had almost struck her. They said she was wearing a white tee-shirt and had glasses.

Shortly after that, at 6:59 a.m., they received another call from someone who had seen her near the Carpet America store on State Road 54 west of Switz City.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched, but he didn't see Carlton there. He did talk to someone who was sitting in a parked vehicle at that location.

They reported seeing the woman described sitting on a guardrail and

said she appeared to be OK.

The deputy reported they did not see Carlton in the area.

Then on July 12 at 4:59 p.m., the GCSD received a 911 call from an individual who said they saw a female on top of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and they were afraid the person was getting ready to jump.

They said the woman was wearing a pink top and black pants.

A GCSD deputy was dispatched to the scene, but did not find her on the bridge.

Instead, she was located near Hunter's Drive-In restaurant, west of the bridge, and the police officer stopped and talked to her.

At 5:07 p.m., the deputy radioed dispatch to report that the woman was Carlton and she seemed OK.

Minutes later, the GCSD received yet another call -- at 5:11 p.m. The caller reported a woman was near the water's edge under the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Since a deputy had spoken with Carlton only minutes before, no check was made.

On July 13 at 3:50 p.m., Carlton's sister reported her missing. The sister said Carlton had not been acting right.

According to the sheriff's department call records, a Bloomfield police officer then went to the road under the bridge to check for her there.

The Bloomfield Police Department subsequently contacted the Indiana Conservation Officers who began a search for Carlton on the White River.

Authorities don't know if Carlton's disappearance could be linked to some legal problems she is facing.

There is an active warrant for Carlton's arrest because she missed a July 21 Greene Circuit Court date for an initial hearing on preliminary charges of battery upon a law enforcement officer resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; and public nudity, a class D misdemeanor.

The charges stem from an incident on July 7 in which Carlton allegedly attacked a Bloomfield police officer who was responding to her 9-1-1 call for help.

Carlton was arrested, but was released from the Greene County Jail on July 8, after posting $1,500 bond.

Anyone with information of the whereabouts of Carlton is asked to contact, Indiana Conservation Officers at (812) 837-9536 or any local law enforcement agency.

Greene County Daily World Staff Writer Anna Rochelle contributed to this report.