Authorities Search For Skydiver Near Cushing

Sunday, July 24th 2016, 7:20 pm

By: News 9

Cushing, Payne County and Lincoln County law enforcement officers and first responders are searching for a missing skydiver after finding a parachute, authorities said.

About 3:45 p.m. Sunday, a skydiving school in Cushing sent up an aircraft. A 26-year-old woman from Kansas was participating in a program and had jumped six times on Sunday.

After her last jump, her parachute was found in a tree near Harmony Road and Grandstaff about five miles from Cimarron Correctional Facility.

The woman, who has not been identified, was not found near the parachute.

Lincoln County Sheriff Charlie Dougherty said there is no explanation as to what would have separated the woman from her parachute.

About 80 people are searching for the skydiver on the ground. The search teams will continue to search into the night. The search teams will bring in more lighting and two helicopters with flares will conduct aerial searches.

Dougherty said this is a very active search and authorities need the public’s help determining what occurred from the time she jumped out of the aircraft to where they found her parachute.

Anyone with information about the jump or the decent is asked to call the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at (405) 258-1191 or the Cushing police at (918) 225-1212.

Stay with News 9 and News9.com for more information.