Michael Faulkner

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 23, 2012

Michael Faulkner

On the Tallahatchie River, Terry Bryant (top) and Clint Roberson scan sonar on a search and rescue boat Wednesday morning in a search for Michael Faulkner. Bryant is deputy director of Panola EMA. Roberson is a sheriff’s deputy assigned to the U.S. Marshals. The Panolian photo by Billy Davis

Man may have leapt into river


By Billy Davis
Panola County authorities were searching the Tallahatchie River this week for a Batesville man, Michael Wayne Faulkner.

Authorities said Faulkner, 33, could have jumped into the river just west of Batesville, where Panola Avenue turns into Old Panola Road just outside Batesville’s city limits.

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Faulkner’s personal items were found on the bridge and on the riverbank, said sheriff’s investigator Bryan Arnold.

“All we’ve got is questions and no answers,” Arnold, who was searching the river Thursday morning, said of Faulkner’s reported disappearance.

The search for Faulkner began early Wednesday morning after someone called police to report a bicycle was left on the bridge, said Deputy Chief Don Province.

A police officer responded and notified the sheriff’s department since the river bridge is outside the city’s jurisdiction, said Province.