Brady Morton still missing after booze-soaked rafting trip

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Authorities are still searching for a missing Michigan man who disappeared during an annual river float Sunday.

Brady Morton, 19, went missing during the Port Huron Float Down in St. Clair Sunday around 5 p.m. He was last seen wearing gray shorts and red sunglasses, and was with a group of about 40 friends near Malcom Marine.

Coast Guard Sector Detroit said witnesses saw Morton leave his raft and go under water. He was not seen resurfacing, and authorities later recovered his float.

The St. Clair Sheriff's Office Dive Team, the Sheriff's Office Marine Division, U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have used sonar, coast guard boats and a helicopter to search some 157 square miles of river for signs of Morton.

The float down is an annual summer event in which thousands of revelers ride down the St. Clair river using various inflatable rafts, tubes and other floating devices, traveling from Lighthouse Beach in Port Huron to Marysville. Port Huron Police Corp. Jason Barna said between 2,500 and 3,000 people participated in the event Sunday, many getting "highly intoxicated, getting into fights."

"There were two people missing, but one came in and we are still looking for one of them," Barna said. "He was with another group but people generally go from one raft and climb up on another."

The other missing person, a Canadian, got out of the water and fell asleep. When he woke up and learned people were searching for him, he let authorities know he was safe.