2 people identified after floodwaters sweep cabin into Indiana creek

BROOKVILLE, Ind. (WXIX) - Indiana Conservation Officers have identified the two people swept away by floodwaters along Woolf Creek in Franklin County on July 28.

The body of Hardy Harris Jr., 49, was recovered from the water on July 29, according to conservation officers.

Virginia Marie Pennington, 53, remains missing.

Conservation officers have broadened the initial search area to now include the area where Wolf Creek meets the Whitewater River.

Harris Jr. and Pennington were staying in a cabin along Wolf Creek when the cabin washed away on July 28, according to conservation officers.

Franklin County Coroner Brian Baxter says five inches of rain fell within four hours that night at Wolf Creek, which may have caused the cabin up on stilts to fall into the creek.

“Unfortunately, in rural counties, they look so calm during the summertime,” Baxter said previously. “Then, about once or twice a year in our county, we have tragedies due to rushing water and people not knowing that it is coming that quickly.”

Around 12 p.m. on July 29, conservation officers said first responders were called about two people who went missing when the cabin had washed away.

The coroner said one body, later identified as Harris Jr., was found around 1 p.m. on July 29 about three-quarters of a mile away from the site of the cabin.

The search for Pennington is ongoing.

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