Dec. 11--At least 10 people have died in weather-related incidents since Thursday's winter storm prompted a state of emergency. The body of a Claremore teen was pulled from an icy pond about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"We are saddened at the news we can't bring Keith home to his family. No parent should have to hear anything like this," Claremore Assistant Police Chief Charles Downum said.
Claremore police and Tulsa County deputies had been searching two days for the body of 15-year-old Keith James Chambers, who went missing Sunday.
On Monday, authorities began looking for Chambers, who lives near the 2400 block of North Chambers Avenue, after he didn't return home. Downum said Monday that searchers spotted a pond in a field west of Chambers' residence that appeared to have a break in the ice.
A search of the pond with the Tulsa County dive team was suspended just after 5 p.m. Monday as dark, more snow and colder temperatures neared. Downum said search equipment had begun freezing up just before the search was halted.
The search resumed about 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The pond was 8 feet deep and about 150 feet by 100 feet wide.
Searchers discovered a pair of gloves and Chambers' footprints in the pond.
Chambers' parents told authorities he had left the residence wearing gloves. Downum said the ice on the pond was 2 inches thick in places, which was not thick enough to safely walk on.
Gale Pease, who lives just a few hundred yards from the spot where Chambers was found, said she warned her children about the dangers of venturing out onto the pond in the winter.
"I tell them that the pond might not be strong enough to hold them," Pease said. "This is so heartbreaking.
"We were so hopeful that he (Chambers) wouldn't be found in the pond."
Several residents who had known Chambers described him as a good, quiet kid who excelled in baseball and football at Claremore High School.
Counselors will be on hand at the school this week for students, officials said.
Authorities said Chambers' death is a harsh reminder of how important it is for residents to stay away from frozen bodies of water.
"Anytime a child is hurt, it gets very emotional," Downum said. "I can't imagine getting news like that. It's very difficult."
Chambers' death follows that of a 6-year-old boy who'd fallen in a south Tulsa creek on Saturday.
Jorge Luna was transported by ambulance to Saint Francis Hospital in critical condition after being submerged beneath a 1-inch thick layer of ice on Joe Creek for about 30 minutes Saturday afternoon, District Fire Chief Dale Cooley said at the scene. He died at the hospital later that day.
Jorge and his 12-year-old brother were playing on the ice in the area of the creek behind the Foxfire Apartments, 7324 S. Wheeling Ave., about 2 p.m. when the boys fell through the ice, Cooley said. The 12-year-old pulled himself out of the water before rescuers arrived, and two men had gone into the creek in an attempt to retrieve Jorge.
A Sunday house fire resulted in Tulsa's second fatality.
Edwin Thornton, 56, died inside a home in the 10500 block of East Fourth Street when it caught fire about 3 a.m. Sunday. Fire investigators determined the blaze was an accidental fire that appeared to have started in the kitchen.
Elsewhere, an unidentified Westville man died in a propane stove fire.
Hypothermia may have been a factor in the deaths of a 43-year-old transient, Terry Myrks, in Oklahoma City and a 75-year-old Talihina man, Leon Cranford. Both cases are still pending with the Medical Examiner's Office.
Myrks was found dead Thursday under an overpass.
Cranford apparently slipped while repairing a vehicle, struck his head on a cattle guard and rolled into a pond, LeFlore County sheriff's deputies said.
Traffic fatalities
Fatal automobile accidents in Broken Arrow, Muskogee, Sapulpa and Oklahoma City account for four of the storm-related deaths.
Travis Spielman, 18, was thrown from a flatbed Dodge pickup after its driver lost control on Oklahoma 51, causing the pickup to roll, about 2 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release from the Broken Arrow Police Department.
Elliott Renshaw, 18, was driving the pickup west near 219th East Avenue when he lost control on the icy roadway, police said.
The men were taken to Saint Francis Hospital, where Spielman died of his injuries, the release states. Renshaw's injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Renshaw was reportedly wearing a seat belt but Spielman was not, according to police.
Charles Spence, 5, of Fort Gibson also died Thursday. He was thrown from a Chevrolet van in Muskogee during a rollover crash after the vehicle's driver reportedly lost control due to icy conditions on the Shawnee bypass bridge east of North Main Street.
The initial investigation showed the child was not wearing a seat belt.
William Walkup of Sapulpa was killed just before 9:30 a.m. Sunday on Oklahoma 33 near 193rd West Avenue, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.
Walkup, 75, was westbound on Oklahoma 33 when the 2008 GMC pickup he was driving spun out, crossed the middle of the roadway and was struck by a 2010 Jeep Wrangler, troopers said.
The report filed by the OHP said it was snowing at the time of the crash, and that Walkup's vehicle spun out due to "ice or snow on the roadway."
John Gover, 85, died in an Oklahoma City crash on Sunday.
Winter weather update
--Most Tulsa-area schools reopened Wednesday after being closed since Friday because of the storm. However, several districts in eastern parts of the state, including Muskogee, Tahlequah and Coweta, had canceled classes again Wednesday because of icy roads in rural and residential areas.
--More than 3,800 customers remained without power Tuesday after the storm coated southeastern Oklahoma with a thick sheet of ice, downing trees and power lines.
--The forecast for the Tulsa area calls for a high of 33 on Wednesday, 39 on Thursday and 43 on Friday with a chance of precipitation Friday and Friday night. Lows will be in the teens Wednesday and Thursday morning and in the upper 20s on Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
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