Authorities Searching for Missing Marshall County Man

Authorities are seeking information about LaPaz man who may have fallen into the Tippecanoe River early Wednesday morning.

Officers from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department got a 911 hangup call around 2:40 a.m. yesterday from a home on West Olson Road in Leiters Ford. That’s where Aaron Tracy Eckman, 20, was said to have been visiting his girlfriend’s relatives. He was last seen in that area around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Eckman is a white male. He’s six feet tall and weighs about 170 pounds, has blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing khaki shorts and a neon yellow shirt with the phrase “work hard, play hard.” A state police news release indicates officers were led to believe during the course of their investigation that Eckman fell into the Tippecanoe River.

Conservation officers were called in to assist in the search. They used boats and sonar to search a five-mile stretch of the river. They suspended their efforts after seven hours due to a high water table and swift currents which made it too dangerous to continue. Officers from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police also searched the banks without success.

The investigation into Eckman’s disappearance is ongoing. Anyone with information about is asked to call the Indiana State Police at 765-473-6666.