The SLO County Sheriff’s Office continues to conduct a major search for Kyle Doan, the missing five-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters in San Miguel during the peak of the winter storm this month.
The Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter it has added drone teams and CHP helicopters to its search operation in and around the Salinas River, including divers and ground crews.
SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson says he has help from crews around the state, and he plans to make a major push forward in the search this weekend.
Doan’s disappearance has garnered national attention. President Biden visited Santa Cruz County yesterday to survey the widespread damage there, and brought up Doan along with the 21 people who died during this month’s storms.
"Everybody I've talked to so far today spontaneously brings that up," Biden said. "The fact is, Jill [Biden] and I have him in our prayers, the family in our prayers and all of you."
This week, Biden opened up California counties including Santa Cruz, Monterey, SLO and Santa Barbara to federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for post-storm recovery.
Central Coast residents who experienced storm damage can go to DisasterAssistance.gov to see if they qualify for aid.