Last updated: January 15, 2016 - 7:58pm
BLOOMSBURG — Steven Whitenight hasn't been found yet, despite an ongoing search of the river banks by family, friends and fire personnel, police and relatives say.
However, there is a new detail people can look for, his girlfriend said. When Whitenight left for his paper route early Thursday, he was wearing a bright orange, camouflage hunting jacket, said Michelle Zeiber.
Meanwhile, Zeiber scheduled another search party to meet at her house at 518 W. Main St. here at 8:30 Saturday morning.
Bloomsburg firefighters were also planning to launch their boat into the Susquehanna to search by water Saturday, provided the river isn't too choked with ice, said Fire Chief Bob Rupp.
Zeiber, along with family, co-workers, friends, and personnel from the Bloomsburg Fire Dept. started searching the river bank near Bloomsburg early Friday. By 11:15, they had shifted downriver to the riverbanks closer to Catawissa, where Montour Township Fire Department was assisting. They also searched near Danville.
Besides those on foot, a State Police helicopter joined in the search for a second day, Zeiber said.
Bloomsburg Police are treating the Whitenight disappearance as a missing person case, said Officer Melanie Readler, since they have no evidence that it's anything but that.
Readler asked anyone who thinks they have seen Whitenight – described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, and 155 pounds, with hazel eyes and light brown hair – to call Bloomsburg Police at 570-784-6779 or 570-784-6300.
Missing since early Thursday
No one has seen or heard from Whitenight since about 3:30 a.m. Thursday.
Zeiber said she last saw Whitenight, of West Main Street, Bloomsburg, around 1 a.m. Thursday, after his shift at Domino’s Pizza.
Whitenight also delivers the Press Enterprise with Zeiber. When Zeiber woke up around 7 a.m., papers prepared for delivery were sitting on their porch, but Whitenight was missing.
She later learned he had delivered about a third of the route.
“It’s like he came by and dropped the rest off on the porch,” she said. That’s unusual, she added; normally, he would deliver all the papers in one 20-minute trip.
Police found his car, with keys and phone inside, parked near the East Bloomsburg Bridge.