AUTHORITIES SEARCH FOR JUMPER

CHARLESTON, MO. -- Missouri and Illinois authorities searched a 10-mile-stretch of the Mississippi River Thursday for signs of a possible suicide victim who may have jumped from the I-57 bridge between Charleston, Mo., and Cairo, Ill.

A relative who was concerned the man was suicidal called the Missouri State Highway Patrol Thursday morning and left a description of the man and the vehicle he was driving.

The descriptions were forwarded to the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department, and deputies soon found an abandoned vehicle matching the description at the foot of the bridge. A land search was conducted in a 10-mile area around the bridge

Petty Officer Jeremy Sizemore with the Coast Guard Group Upper Mississippi River unit of Keokuk, Iowa, was notified of the search Thursday afternoon. The unit manages Coast Guard operations on the Missouri and Illinois rivers and the entire upper Mississippi River from Minnesota to just below Cairo, Ill.

"They told me that they conducted a search with a helicopter and didn't find anything, and that there was no facts leading up to show that the person had jumped," said Sizemore.

Because there was no missing persons report filed for the suspected jumper and no drivers reported a possible jumper from the bridge, the Coast Guard gave a report to the Missouri Water Patrol in case a body matching the description is recovered.