But after more than two hours on the water, the search was called off when no-one was found and no formal missing persons report had been lodged.
Deniliquin Police officer in charge Detective Inspector Jy Brown confirmed a missing person report had still not been lodged by the time the tfBannersc Pastoral Timestf$f went to print yesterday.
Witnesses claim to have seen at least two young people jump into the Edward River from the Deniliquin National Bridge which links north and south Deniliquin, about 3.30pm.
Emergency services say there were conflicting reports as to whether all persons in the water exited or not.
‘‘Officers on scene spoke with a number of people,’’ Det Insp Brown said.
‘‘A number of witnesses saw people jump in, and some said they also saw them exit while others did not.
‘‘A search was conducted, during which time there were no official reports of a missing person, family members approaching police or assisting with the search.’’
Deniliquin VRA Rescue member and VRA Region 5 (Southern) coordinator Jess Holloway said five crew members patrolled the river in boats during the search.
She reiterated there was not enough evidence to suggest a person was missing in the river to continue the search beyond 6pm.
‘‘There were no missing persons reports to substantiate the resources to continue the search,’’ Mrs Holloway said.
Lindsay Renwick, who has spent much of his life on the Edward River at Deniliquin, said while a number of locals have completed the ‘‘rite of passage’’ of jumping from the National Bridge, he said it has ‘‘always been dangerous’’.
‘‘Today’s concrete bridge replaced an old timber one, and there was another timber bridge that ran along side it.
‘‘When they were demolished, myself, my brother and a few others were contracted to remove the pylons removing explosives.
‘‘But there’s nothing to say some are not still there.
‘‘Plus we’ve had some floods and high rivers, so there’s no telling what’s in the water under the bridge.’’
