Woman who fell into Fresno canal is still missing. The search area has expanded
Dive teams on Friday again explored the waters of a canal in east-central Fresno, expanding the area being searched in a bid to find a 38-year-old woman who fell in two days earlier near Millbrook and McKinley avenues.
Hope that she is still alive lingers, but is dwindling.
Efforts resumed in the morning after a one-day break to allow irrigation workers a chance to slow the canal’s flow, lowering the water level from about 10 to 12 feet to between 6 and 8 feet, and possibly bringing the woman’s body closer to the surface if it had become tangled in debris.
Visibility is very low in the murky water, with debris flowing freely and entanglement hazards also posing a threat to divers.
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Fresno Fire Department and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue teams are involved in the effort to find Fannie Chindapheth of Fresno. She was identified Thursday and described as standing 5 feet, 2 inches and weighing 100 pounds.
The search area was lengthened by 2 miles, stretching down to Highway 41 and Shields Avenue.
“The irrigation district has given us a solid four-hour window,”said Shane Brown, the Fire Department’s public information officer. “Our teams have been aggressively searching in the water, along the bridge here at McKinley and Millbrook. The sheriff’s been doing a great job working from the east back to this bridge off of Millbrook.”
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Crews also were searching along the canal’s banks north on Millbrook, with people on foot trying “to see if we can find any indication or any area that might give us some hope,” Brown said.
The sheriff’s helicopter flew over the canal.
Chindpehth went missing about 4 p.m. Wednesday, apparently slipping into the canal in what authorities now believe was an accident.
Witnesses that day told Fresno Fire crews that an altercation near a homeless encampment had led to the woman getting pushed or falling into the canal. But the department has ruled out any kind of intentional act.
Chindapheth’s family released photos to the Fresno Fire Department in hopes that someone has seen her and she would be found safely. Relatives said she has four siblings.
“That is what everyone is hoping that she got out on her own.” Brown said. “That she was able self-extricate. Maybe for whatever reason she hasn’t had a chance to contact her family. That is what everyone is hoping. Window is definitely getting smaller.”
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As far as still being alive but trapped somewhere in the canal, Brown said, that is no longer a possibility. The water was too cold and swift and too much time has passed.
“We’re trying to help get that family closure,” Brown said. “We take it serious and we care very much. This is someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, cousin. We understand that.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact fire dispatch at 559-621-4357.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 3:37 PM.
