HOUSTON — BREAKING UPDATE: Tim Miller with Texas EquuSearch said a body has been found in the search for a father reported missing since Friday from the Medical Center. The body was found at MLK and Brays Bayou. It has not been confirmed that this is the body of Ridge Cole, 28.
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Volunteers with Texas EquuSearch were in the Medical Center area Monday to help look for a man who has been missing since Friday.
Ridge Cole, 28, was in Houston for his 13-month-old son's liver transplant at Texas Children's Hospital. Cole, his wife and their son, River, were staying at the Ronald McDonald House while the boy recovers from the surgery.
Family members said Cole went outside for a cigarette and a walk along the bayou near Holcombe Boulevard Friday night. His phone, satchel and one shoe were found on the bank.
"We think he tripped and fell down in that water," Mark Edwards, with Texas EquuSearch, said.
Family members have been searching the area, too.
"This is the most unreal thing," Shannon Foster, Cole's aunt, told us. "He would never disappear and not let them know where he is at."
Edwards said they've scoured nearly 5 miles along the bayou and even used underwater sonar.
"Our heart goes out to this family," Edwards said. "They were already having a terrible experience with a baby with a liver transplant and now this."
EqquSearch is asking joggers, cyclists and kayakers in that area to be on the lookout for him.
"We really are desperate to find Ridge," Foster said. "We need him back."
Cole is 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs about 175 pounds and was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and dark gray sweatpants with an MTV logo on the left leg.
If you've seen him or have any information about his disappearance, you're asked to call the Houston Police Department at 832-394-1840 or Texas EqquSearch at 281-309-9500.