Thursday 12PM Update: FBI Asks Officials To Stop Draining Meyers Lake

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

Meyers Lake on Thursday morning. (Jill Kasparie/KCRG-TV9)

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By Richard Pratt

Story Created: Jul 19, 2012 at 11:54 AM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 19, 2012 at 9:54 PM CDT

EVANSDALE, Iowa -- Efforts to drain Meyers Lake to aid in the search for two missing girls have come to a halt at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is sending a dive team to search the lake for any evidence under the surface.

Sandy Breault, a spokesperson for the FBI's office in Omaha, confirmed that federal authorities made the request to the city of Evansdale Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, Breault was saying the draining was taking longer than expected. However, she learned later that the dive team needs a minimum of six feet of water to best do their work, leading to the request to stop the draining of the lake.

Breault said the dive team, believed to be coming late Thursday from Los Angeles, is planning to use both a side scan sonar and a 360-degree sonar in the search of the now-smaller lake.

Evansdale Mayor Chad Deutsch confirmed the request by the FBI to stop the draining. The mayor said the pumping has definitely stopped, but said he was unsure if the overflow pipe in the lake itself was shut off at the same time.

The search for the two missing girls -- Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, -- has now entered its seventh day. The girls were originally reported missing around midday Friday, after they were last seen leaving Elizabeth’s house less than a mile from the lake.

The bikes and Elizabeth’s purse were recovered Friday afternoon on the bank of the lake, but officials haven't found any other significant clues to explain the girls' disappearance.