Just over a week, ago seven individuals were only hours away from a tragic series of events which would leave four of them dead, two injured and one missing and presumed dead.

According to Cherokee County Coroner Dr. Jeremy Deaton, at around 7:00 on the evening of Tuesday December 13th a Saturn SUV with seven occupants crashed into the Coosa River at Leesburg Landing.

The bodies of Robert Hardin, Dale Steven Keener, Christy Hobson and Cheryl Hobson were recovered a short time later; two women, Kim Learned and Brittany Hobson, did manage to make it to shore and were rushed to a Gadsden area hospital for treatment, later recovering

The search for Bobby Shore continues.  Deaton says it appears that Shore exited the vehicle, but was unable to make it out of the water.

That case took a rather bizarre twist a few days later, when the survivors issued statements with Hobson saying in a Facebook posting that the driver had intentionally driven into the water and Learned making the following statement to a TV news crew:

The vehicle was reportedly in approximately 18 feet of water that night.

The Cherokee County Rescue Squad continues their search from dawn to dusk every day, as they battle cold and windy conditions.  They’re extremely grateful for the use of a bus that’s being provided by the Cherokee County Board of Education and for food and drink brought in by a number of area businesses, churches, organizations and concerned citizens.

Cadaver dogs were brought in from South Carolina, Georgia, and other points last weekend,  and although they did hit on some areas, they had no success actually locating Shore.

The Rescue Squad will continue the operation until the body is found.

We’ll have more information as it becomes available.