WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) – The search for a missing 7-year-old boy has ended for the night.

Authorities plan to resume looking Wednesday morning.

And rescuers say their efforts now are to recover him from the bayou downstream from where he was swept away in a rain-swollen ditch.

Fire Chief Scott Wolverton earlier said they searched the complex array of open ditches and underground drainage pipes from where the child is believed to have entered the ditch to where the drainage system empties into the bayou.

Then searchers put a boat in the water with K-9s in search of Daysean Combest.

He disappeared about 2:44 p.m. Tuesday on Orla Avenue between Quinton and Emery streets, Caddo 911 dispatch records show.

Earlier, divers were sent to the 3900 block of Orla Avenue.

That’s on the south side of Interstate 20 across from Fair Grounds Field.

Rescuers first checked open ditches as far as Midway and Virginia avenues.

They also worked with the city’s water and sewerage department to check the drains in line with where the child is believed to have been in the ditch, a spokesman said.

Cameras with a 1,000-foot reach then were used to check underground drains that first responders could not access.

The boy’s mother called 911 after finding his sandals by the drainage ditch and believes he passed through the ditch during heavy rains.

Authorities are unsure if the child knew how to swim, the spokesman said.

Daysean Combest stands 4 feet tall, weighs about 70 pounds and has a blonde patch in his hair. He last was seen wearing a gray shirt and red shorts.

Authorities urge anyone who sees him or anything out of the ordinary to immediately call 911 and let them know the location.

Parents should keep an eye on their children in times of heavy rainfall, Shreveport Fire Chief Scott Wolverton said.

“These drainage ditches fill up very rapidly. You may think that you can stand up in that high-flow rate of water, but you cannot, especially a small child.”