Yesterday, I completed my two-week search for 17-year-old Jakub Szerszniew, who went missing on December 29. The search did not result in the discovery of a body, and Jacob is still considered a missing person. In the course of the search, I checked a river section that was 26 kilometers long, swimming through it multiple times with a sonar and covering a total distance of nearly 150 kilometers. The Narew River, currently is characterized by a strong current of 2.6 km/h. Due to the elevated water level, the river overflowed into the surrounding meadows creating numerous floodplains. The average depth of the river is 3.5 meters. On the outside of the bends, the depth can reach 6 to 10 meters in some places. Numerous water eddies also form on the river. The riverbed is relatively clean and larger branches are piled up only in some places. In the course of the search, using the sonar, I came across an object hooked to a branch, which I determined to be highly probable due to its dimensions and other features. Due to the strong current, I was unable to verify it safely on my own. That’s why I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Rescue and Fire-Fighting Unit of the State Fire Service in Łomża, Voluntary Fire Brigade in Nowogrodziec and the police officers present at the search site from the Municipal Headquarters of Police in Łomża for their technical support. During the dive verification, the object was found not to be present. It was also confirmed by a subsequent sonar test. The object and the branch moved downstream and subsequent sonar searches of the river did not confirm its renewed presence. Was it a humanoid object? One can only speculate. However, there is still hope that Jakub will be found safe and sound.
During one of the search days, I was accompanied by the Polish Public Television camera crew from the program “Ktokolwiek widział, ktokolwiek wie…”. You can find the reportage here.
