NEW CASTLE Officials continue search for missing hunter

Police said the men were not wearing life vests.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Police and firefighters resumed their search for a city man today in the Shenango River.
David Woods, 52, has been missing since his canoe tipped over at about 10 p.m. Monday.
Woods and his son-in-law were hunting for raccoons along the river bank when the canoe bumped into something, spilling both men into the water, Neshannock Police Superintendent Philip Carlo said.
The son-in-law made his way out of the water and to Pa. Route 60 to flag down cars for help at about 10:30 p.m., Carlo said. Carlo did not have the name of the son-in-law.
Police and firefighters spent Monday night and early Tuesday searching the banks of the river and found the canoe and oars, he said. At about 5 a.m. Tuesday, nets were put up at the bridge near Harbor-Pulaski Road, and helicopters were brought in to look for Woods. The canoe had tipped about two miles north of that bridge, he said.
Neither man was wearing a life vest, the police superintendent said.
Carlo added that the Sharpsville Dam was shut down on Tuesday to help lower the water level to aid authorities in their search.
Transit authority
Woods lives in the Mahoningtown section of New Castle and has worked for the past 10 years as a mechanic for the New Castle Transit Authority.
"I can't tell you anything but good things about Dave," said Leonard Lastoria, transit authority director. "He was an excellent employee."
Lastoria said he would often make parts for the buses when they couldn't be bought.
The transit director said Woods enjoyed hunting and often talked about going out in the evenings to trap raccoons. Using a canoe in his hunting was not unusual, Lastoria said.
cioffi@vindy.com