The search for a woman and two children last spotted traversing a train trestle over the Catawba River has been concluded without resolving their whereabouts, local law enforcement agencies confirmed. According to WBTV, the York County Sheriff’s Office called off the efforts after an exhaustive search in which they scoured the river, the adjacent woods, and along the train tracks.

The incident began when a train conductor reported seeing individuals on the tracks, raising concerns that they might have jumped into the river or fled into the wooded area near Highway 5, WBTV reported. "The conductor stated he began breaking and when he stopped he did not see them or where they went" despite braking, he lost sight of them, said the sheriff's offices from York County and Lancaster County, which both responded to the scene.

Authorities entertained multiple possibilities such as the trio jumping into the river, being struck by the train, or successfully hiding in the woods. Deputy Trent Faris with the York County Sheriff’s Office remarked, "In this area, we’ve had a history of people who’ve jumped from the bridge," according to an interview obtained by QC News. Nevertheless, no evidence of a train-pedestrian collision was found.

Dive teams and ground crews worked for several hours yet uncovered no trace of the woman and children. "We’ve checked the river," "We’ve checked the banks. We’ve checked the woods. We checked the train tracks," Faris said, but to no avail, their efforts yielding no signs of the missing persons . The search was officially called off around 5:45 p.m. Faris expressed the hope that the individuals are safe and made a plea: "You’re not in any trouble," "We just want to make sure you’re okay." The Sheriff's Office encourages anyone with information to contact them, according to QC News.

As the efforts have been suspended, local officials are urging the public to refrain from walking on train tracks, a potentially dangerous practice which could lead to emergencies like the current situation.