Loved Ones 'Begging for a Miracle' as Search Continues for 2 Missing Women Who Went Over Va. Dam
Henrico County Police (2)
Family and friends are asking for prayers as the search continues for two women who disappeared after going over a dam in Virginia earlier this week.
Lauren Winstead, 23, of Henrico County, and Sarah Erway, 28, of Chesterfield County, have been missing since Monday, after a group of 12 kayakers went over Bosher's Dam on James River in Richmond, according to the Henrico County Police Department.
Search efforts resumed Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., with seven boats of 25 people launching from Tredegar and Brown's Island Way, a spokesperson for the Richmond Police Department tells PEOPLE.
The RPD says rescue crews, led by the Richmond Fire Department, "are currently moving the search upstream near Bosher's Dam."
Winnie Warner, who has known Erway for years, told The Richmond Times Dispatch and CBS affiliate WTVR-TV that the woman's mother is feeling "broken right now."
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"She is a precious young lady," Winnie said of Erway. "So sweet and always there for her friends. Kind, kind-spirited. Gracious. There aren't many people like Sarah."
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Winstead's loved ones shared their own kind words.
Speaking with ABC affiliate WRIC-TV, coworker Akita Pitel said that Winstead has always been "full of life."
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Richmond Fire Department Assistant Chief Jeffrey Segal said in a press conference Monday night that around 3:13 p.m. that day, a report was called in about a group of kayakers who were stranded in the river.
A press release said the group was "in distress near Bosher's dam after 12 people set out upriver to float along the river earlier in the afternoon."
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As loved ones await answers, they're asking for prayers.
"Right now my family needs all the prayers we can get. My daughter was in an accident on the James River and is missing," Winstead's father wrote in a Facebook message on Tuesday. "God, I am begging for a miracle!"
Speaking with WRIC-TV, Pitel shared a message of hope. "We're going to find her," Pitel told the outlet. "Lauren, we're out there rooting for you, we love you."
Anyone with information about the women's disappearance is asked to call Henrico police at 804-501-5000.
