Newton County Sheriff Robert Burby released a statement late Thursday afternoon which said that search efforts are continuing after a person jumped into the Sabine River on Wednesday. It occurred on the Highway 190 Bridge at Bon Wier, and a truck driver who witnessed it called 911 to report the incident. Burby said the search would end at nightfall on Thursday evening and would start again at daybreak on Friday morning. Burby said local firefighters as well as law enforcement on the local and state level from both Texas and Louisiana have been involved in the effort, which includes multiple boats with sonar.
FULL STATEMENT FROM NEWTON COUNTY SHERIFF ROBERT BURBY ON THU, FEB 15TH, 2024 AT 4:30PM:
We have continued search efforts at the Sabine River Bridge on Highway 190 East today, with negative results thus far. The search will be called off at dark and will resume at daylight tomorrow. Merryville VFD and Deweyville VFD have joined search efforts, along will all entities previously reported. We would like to thank the residents of the Bon Wier community, and the Jasper-Newton Long Term Recovery team for providing all first responders with lunch today. Continued prayers are appreciated.