Gilkerson and team use pipe locating equipment to locate missing Day County woman

A Pierre based dive team used pipeline locating technology to help searchers find the body of woman who went missing during a blizzard December 23, 2020.

Day County resident Amy Dougherty’s body was found Friday (Jan. 29, 2021). She was reported missing after she didn’t show up at work and her husband couldn’t reach her on the phone. Emergency responders searched for several days along the route she took to work, with no success.

That’s when Pierre resident Caleb Gilkerson, who owns Central Divers, LLC, says a few of Dougherty’s family and friends reached out to him about helping. After first contacting the Day County Sheriff’s Office, Gilkerson headed to Day County to evaluate the situation.

A magnetometer is a tool used in oil and gas fields for locating pipes and other related objects. Gilkerson says it’s used on the surface, not under the water.

While searching under the water, he says there was zero visibility.

The team found the vehicle that afternoon in a body of water along the highway just west of Bristol and immediately contacted the Day County Sheriff’s Office. Dougherty’s body was still inside the vehicle.

Gilkerson says he had a great support team working with him.

The investigation to determine the specifics of the accident continues.

Day County Sheriff Ryan Rucktaeschel says along with his deputies, also assisting in the search were members of the Bristol Fire and Webster Fire Departments, local residents, local pilots, the South Dakota Civil Air Patrol, the Lake Area College Aviation Program, Codington County Search and Rescue, the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.