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TAMPA - A dangerous current prevented members of the Hillsborough Sheriff's dive team from searching for a young man believed to have drowned Tuesday afternoon in the Tampa Bypass Canal.
Deputies on Wednesday used a helicopter to search for 22-year-old Eric Downey. As of Wednesday evening, they had not recovered his body.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Downey, of 10750 Tom Folsom Road in Thonotosassa, went to the canal at about 4 p.m. Tuesday with his girlfriend and her two children, hoping to cool off with a swim.
When Downey jumped in, he got caught in the strong undertow that swept through the dam gates, which were opened Monday to relieve flooding left along the Hillsborough River by Frances.