Helicopters, OSBI Assist Search for Man Missing at Turner Falls

By Adrianna Iwasinski, NEWS 9

DAVIS, Oklahoma -- The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are assisting the Murray County Sheriff's Department in the search of Turner Falls for a missing Kansas camper.

The search has expanded to include the area known as Boulder Springs, which is near Turner Falls about five miles south of Davis.

Moses Kopay Fitchpatrick, 20, has been missing since Tuesday. He was hiking with others from a Falls Creek church camp when he strayed from the group.

Fitchpatrick and his family are from Witchita, Kansas and were down at Falls Creek attending Native American church camp with their church. This is a camp they've attended for years and now his sister is just praying for his safe return.

"We're just concerned, very, very concerned," Rachel White-McQuillen said.

White-McQuillen doesn't know what else to do. Her brother disappeared near a creek not far from the Falls Creek campgrounds while hiking with some friends.

"The boys decided they were going to go back to what's called the Prayer Garden and the route they were going to take was pretty steep and my brother did not feel comfortable climbing that," said White-McQuillen. "He said, 'Uh, I'm not going to go that way. I'll take another trail and I'll meet you back up there.'"

The large campground is creating a challenge for search crews trying to find Fitchpatrick. Volunteers from all over are aiding in the search and the highway patrol is also using the help of air rescue, canine units and ATV ground patrols. Search and rescue teams are dealing with a lot of obstacles such as the rough, wooded terrain as well as the heat.

"We've had one crew member on the search and rescue team, go down," Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Ashley Hampton said.

And there's an even greater concern for Fitchpatrick.

"He's been out going on 72 hours, you know," said Hampton. "One hundred five degree heat, no food, no water and throughout this land there's holes, there's caves he could have fallen and gotten hurt."

And that is where search and rescue crews plan to focus their efforts. As the search continues, White-McQuillen refuses to give up hope that her brother will be found alive.

"At this point we just want to know where he is," White-McQuillen said.

White-McQuillen has also put up signs with her brother's picture in the surrounding towns around the campgrounds. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, black shorts, a gray bandana and white running shoes and he has a tattoo of his middle name on his neck.

Authorities have set up a command post at the camp's cafeteria.

Anyone with information is asked to call the OHP at (405) 523-1570.