Amid flooding, golf course landscaper goes missing

By Brian Nordli (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 | 12:05 a.m.

A Desert Rose Golf Course landscaper went missing and is believed to have been swept away in the wash that runs through the course after a parade of thunderstorms flooded the area Tuesday afternoon, Metro Police officials said.

The man had been wearing an orange safety vest and operating a front-end loader in the wash when the storm hit the course located near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, officials said. His supervisor told him he could leave due to the weather, but when the supervisor returned — the man was gone, officials said.

All that was left was the font-end loader submerged in 12 feet of water, and the man’s car in the parking lot, officials said.

Police received a call around 4:20 p.m. of the missing man. Nearby Metro Police search and rescue helicopters scanned the area, but saw no traces of the man, officials said.

Officials said the search has been at a standstill since dark with officers monitoring the wash, where they believe the man will be found. Water in the wash is still 5 feet deep and the banks remain too saturated with water to walk along as of late Tuesday night, officials said.

Officials said it has become a recovery mission searching for the man’s body, but there is still a chance he could be found alive. The search will continue once conditions improve, officials said.