Kyle Doan still missing after weekend search along Salinas River

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV)- UPDATE ON JULY 9, 2023- The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department continues their two-day search efforts for missing 5-year-old Kyle Doan on Sunday in the Salinas River.

Local and state agencies gathered on Sunday morning for the briefing and have headed out for a full day of search for any evidence of Kyle's location. Unfortunately, no clue as to where Kyle ended up was found.

"At this time the Sheriff’s Office will be assessing the situation to determine what is reasonable and possible going forward," said the SLO County SHeriff's Office.

Our sister station KEYT said that over 300 search and rescue trained personnel participated in the search for Doan. Including, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said that most of the search area is now accessible due to decreased water levels in the Salinas River.

Doan has been missing since Jan. 9 when he was swept away from his mother's arms by floodwaters in the Salinas River.

Search for Kyle Doan that was swept in Salinas River back in January resumes

UPDATE ON JULY 5, 2023 AT 6:38 PM- The search for missing five-year-old boy Kyle Doan will begin again Saturday and Sunday.

The San Luis Obispo County Incident Management Team will be conducting a large-scale ground search operation all weekend. These will be full-day searches on both days in the Salinas River from the San Marcos Creek confluence to the Big Sandy Creek confluence; which is a six-mile long area and a half a mile wide.

"K9’s and heavy equipment will be staged and prepared to respond immediately if evidence of Kyle’s location is discovered," said the Sheriff's Office.

State agencies continue support to SLO Sheriff’s search for missing Kyle Doan

UPDATE ON FEB. 19, 2023 AT 12:03 PM- Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered his Office of Emergency Services to assist the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office in the search for missing five-year-old boy Kyle Doan.

According to our sister station KEYT, State resources from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services have been tasked with meeting all requests from county officials for their ongoing search for the missing boy.

Doan was last seen on Jan. 9 when he was swept away by floodwaters.

The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office said that since most of the land along the San Marcos Creek and Salinas River is private property, law enforcement officers encourage independent searchers to get permission from landowners, follow all local official's guidelines, and pay attention to their own safety.

There have been continued volunteer lead searches that have taken place this weekend. Volunteers can enter by foot on Soka Way and Wimer Way in San Miguel. The San Miguel Fire Department has granted access for an excavator entrance will be available for those with heavy machinery. For more information click here.

$10,000 reward if anyone finds Kyle Doan who went missing in flood waters in San Miguel

Update Feb.1, 2023, at 1:53 p.m.- Family has helped set up a private search group that will take place Thursday morning along the San Marcos Creek.

The search is planned to start at 10:30 a.m. near the 101 bridge by San Marcos Road and Warren Road, says a Facebook event post. People who want to help in the search can RSVP on Facebook.

"Please wear comfortable walking shoes. It is about a 2.5 mile distance from the 101 bridge to the crash site (we will be parking at the 101 bridge and walking backwards on the creek toward the crash site.) Bring shovels if you have them and dogs (preferably ones that hunt) could be useful," said the Facebook post.

A $10,000 reward will be given to anyone, team, or group that finds Kyle. Kyle's older brother, Tyler Doan, will be leading the search on San Marcos Creek.

Update Jan. 28, 2023, at 5:01 p.m.- The search for 5-year-old Kyle Doan, washed up by flood waters in San Miguel in early January, continued Saturday.

Thirty-five members of the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and members of the Sheriff's Dive Team continued their search for the missing boy near San Miguel. The search occurred in water and on land north of the area where previous searches were done.

There are still no signs of teh young boy.

Day 11 of search for Kyle Doan extends into Monterey County

Update Jan. 20, 2023, at 1:49 p.m.- Five-year-old Kyle Doan was swept up by flood waters in the Salinas River in San Luis Obispo County on Jan. 9 along with his mother. A good Samaritan saved his mother, but Kyle was too far away for them to save.

First responders have searched for Kyle daily, with only one of his shoes being found. Now search teams are extending their reach to other counties.

Friday, Jan. 20th, members of the San Luis Obispo Drone Team continued their search for Kyle.

The Drone Team and air operations support from CHP's helicopter searched parts of San Marcos Creek and the Salinas River in San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties. Kyle has yet to be found.

Another large multiple-agency search effort will take place over the weekend.

Day four for missing Central Coast boy Kyle Doan swept in flood waters

Update Jan. 13, 2023, at 3:19 p.m.- Day four has started in the search for Kyle Doan, who was washed away into the Salinas River in San Miguel.

Members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office Dive Team and the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team are still looking for the boy, but searchers from the National Guard and other outside agencies have been released from the mission.

Friday's search will take place where San Marcos creek empties into the Salinas River.

"Additionally, our search teams continue to monitor San Marcos creek levels and recheck areas as necessary as water levels, and conditions change," said the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office.

Weather permitting, future searches will be conducted on a continuous but limited basis.

The blonde, hazel-eyed boy was swept away Monday near San Miguel, authorities have said. The search for him, on and off since then, has been hampered by brutal weather conditions battering California and leaving behind piles of mud and debris search teams have had to sift through.

There have been clues authorities are looking in the right direction: Teams have found physical items from the SUV Kyle and his mother were driving in Monday morning, Paul said.  So far, they’ve found only one of his blue and gray Nike shoes.

200 personnel search for missing 5-year-old Kyle Doan

Update Jan. 12, 2023, at 6:38 p.m.- Search efforts have continued for a third straight day in the search for missing Kyle Doan.

Around 120 members of the National Guard assisted in the search Thursday, in addition to members of search and rescue teams from six counties. The search included six K-9 teams, three CAL FIRE hand crews, drone teams, and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services members.

200 personnel were apart of the search Thursday.

"The search is being conducted in extremely challenging conditions with mud and debris hampering the efforts," said the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office. "But this is a comprehensive effort to search every brush pile and area of debris."

Father speaks on missing 5-year-old son who was swept up in Central Coast flood waters

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – The search continues for missing Kyle Doan days after being swept up by flood waters in the Salinas River near San Miguel.

Over 100 National Guard personnel and emergency responders from Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and Sacramento all assisted in searching for Kyle over the past two days.

We spoke to Kyle's father Brian Doan, about what the last few days have been like for his family.

“We haven't found him yet. It's still difficult because there's we don't have any closure, or we just don't have an end to this part.”

It was just another Monday morning for the Doan family. Just before 8 o’clock, Brian Doan got a call that would change everything.

“I get the call from some lady and she puts on my wife and she's just beside herself and saying, I can't find Kyle and I know what happened,” Doan said.

Brian appreciates that the people who lived where the incident occurred helped out when his family needed it.

“And I know that if they could have reached my son, they could have done so,” Brian said. “And my wife just happened to be closer to them. And when she was able to reach out to the rope that they were able to have, and the flow of my son was farther down, and they saw him his face up with his floating face up, but they couldn't get to him because the reality is you cannot run along a bank when it's not solid ground and reach to somebody."

According to his father, Kyle is an outgoing five-year-old.

“But he liked people,” Brian said. “He liked to dance. He was very outgoing and active. We had he had a splinter fracture in his femur last year in preschool because he ran and he, tripped, and he fell. And he was able to get out. He had to have a rod placed in him. But the Children's Hospital in Madeira, and he had it in there for over a year, and he was able to adapt. He played soccer this last fall, and we had to get it out. Yeah, we had to wait until November, and he got it out, and he really know after a couple of weeks he really wanted to go back to normal.”

Both parents of Kyle are grateful for everything the surrounding communities have done so far to find their son.

“My wife and I are very appreciative of the support that they've gotten here in the San Miguel community, the Paso Robles, and up in King City,” Brian said. “It's been very nice. It's been very gratifying. And so we're very…we're blown away. We're still it's hard to process.”

San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office searching for child of former King City family after being swept by flood waters

Update Jan. 10, 2023, at 6:38 p.m.- The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office said their Search and Rescue team has called off their search for the day as of 5:20 p.m. due to low visibility. They will resume efforts Wednesday morning,

They have not located Kyle Doan as of yet. This case "remains our top priority while weather conditions permit," said the sheriff's department.

There is a gofundme started by a friend of the family. Kyle's father Brian Doan confirmed proceeds will go to his family to help with search efforts. You can find it here.

ORIGINAL STORY

Search and rescue operations resumed Tuesday morning for a missing five-year-old boy who was swept away on Monday by raging floodwaters near San Miguel in the Salinas River, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office described the missing boy, Kyle Doan, as follows: "short dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, 4 feet tall, 52 pounds. Last seen wearing black puffer jacket with a red liner, blue jeans, blue and gray Nike tennis shoes."

According to the sheriff's office, Monday's search operations were discontinued after about five hours because the extreme weather conditions made it unsafe for first responders to continue their efforts.

Officials said Tuesday's break in the intense storm allowed the search to resume, which will involve all available resources of the office including the Underwater Search and Rescue Team and air operations.

KION spoke with Kyle's father, Brian Doan, who says his family is devasted over what happened to their son. Brian says his wife did the correct thing and tried to rescue them both.

According to the SLO county Office of Emergency Services, a search and recovery for a five-year-old whose car was swept away by flood waters near San Marco Road during Monday's rain are underway in Paso Robles.

According to Cal Fire SLO, a white truck attempted to make a low water crossing when it became stuck in the current around 8 a.m. A passerby assisted the parent out of the car before the current became too strong, but they could not get the five-year-old out.

Brian Doan said his wife was taking her son to a San Miguel school where she is a teacher and Kyle was a student. The road looked no different than normal when their car got swept away.

Brian said his wife got her son safely out of the vehicle when the current separated them. That's when a person assisted her, and her son was too far away from them to rescue him safely. Brian says his wife is suffering from severe survivor's guilt, but that she did everything right.

He added that his wife was a former teacher at Gonzales Unified School District, and they were residents of King City for 13 years before moving to San Luis Obispo County two years ago.

Kyle is the youngest of three children. Their eldest son is in college and graduated from King City High School, and their youngest daughter is a junior in high school.

Kyle had a rod removed from his leg after fracturing his femur in pre-school. They just went on a family cruise shortly after New Year. Brian says the family is just searching for closure at this moment.

The family believes the current might have swept Kyle into Monterey County.

The sheriff's office said the conditions remain extremely dangerous as the water level is high and continues to be fast-moving.

Therefore, officials said they strongly caution the public against conducting self-initiated searches, which could put them in harm's way and become a victim requiring resources that would otherwise be used for searching.

If anyone has any information that could be helpful in this search, you can call the Sheriff's Office at 805-781-4550.