Missing SMU officer's body still hasn't been found

DALLAS - Drivers returned to Turtle Creek for a sixth day to look for the body of an SMU police officer who was swept into the water during a storm.

The police team abandoned their search to join colleagues during Thursday night’s shooting in downtown Dallas. Saturday they were back in the creek looking for Officer Mark McCullers.

McCullers was working an off-duty security job at a construction site early Monday morning when the water quickly came up around his car. Grainy surveillance video suggests he may have gotten out of the vehicle just as it washed into the creek near Fitzhugh and St. Johns Drive.

Divers found McCullers’ Dodge Charger Tuesday, but they haven’t found any sign of his body.

Police said enough water has receded for them to expand their search.

“After this we’re going to clear up here and we’ll go back to where it drains before the Trinity. There’s a big grate down there and the water’s gotten very low – about calf deep. We’re actually going to gear some guys up to walk through the tunnel. It goes about 2.5 miles underground,” said Sgt. Terry Varden with the Dallas police dive team.

State game wardens and Dallas Fire Rescue teams helped clear debris piled up at a construction site near the creek.

McCullers served in the Marine Corps from 1990-1998. He worked as a private security officer for Mark Cuban’s estate and for a private firm involved with the George W. Bush Library and Museum. He joined the SMU Police Department in February of 2015, according to his LinkedIn page.

He and his wife had six children in their combined family. His brother-in-law said he was a devoted to his family and to his faith in God.