After four grueling days of freezing temperatures and numerous volunteer efforts, the search for a father and son who were suspected to have drowned in the Mud River is half over after searchers recovered the body of 34-year-old Brandon Spicer of the Dunmor-Deerlick Road in the Lewisburg area Wednesday night.

Brandon's body was found shortly after 6 p.m. located near a dam in the river where cadaver dogs out of Frankfort had 'hit' numerous times. Divers from Warren County and Central City have been combing the U-shaped river, as have boats carrying men and equipment that drag the bottom. A boat crew found him. An autopsy is planned.

Spicer and his seven-year-old son, John Gregory were suspected to have crashed into the river Saturday night while out looking at Christmas lights. Authorities report that Spicer's 1979 Ford Pickup truck carrying the father and son was traveling northbound on the Coopertown Road when it exited off the right edge of the roadway over-corrected and descended into the Mud River.

The river was extremely high Saturday night after several days of rain. Water temperatures were between 30-35 degrees and experts say the river's current was exceptionally strong.

Rescue efforts began immediately after a witness who was following behind the Spicer vehicle spotted lights emerging from the river and then heard cries for help that lasted only a moment.

The worst was feared but as time went by and the father and son weren't found hopes of them being alive somehow kept John Gregory's mother Cynthia 'Cindy' Spicer hanging on.

Ms. Spicer arrived in Logan County Tuesday from her home in North Carolina. Holding out hopes that her son could still be alive, she and fiance Mark Jennings began putting up 'Missing' posters about the boy all over the county.

She said that 'Bubba,' as they called him, lived with her in San Diego, Calif. during his first six years but came here to be with his dad in August 2003.

She described Bubba as a loving child and said he was very happy at Lewisburg School in Vivian Milam's second grade class. "He liked being at Lewisburg so much." The mother last saw him briefly in Logan County in October during his fall break from school. Her parents have also been here from California, along with other family members waiting for some news.

One of the men in charge of the effort, Rodney Harkleroad of Logan County Search & Rescue, said while the recent recovery of Spicer was sorrowful, it also gave a boost to the volunteers who have been out braving the cold for the past four days. "We are compelled to find the boy," said Harkleroad. "We have his father and we will find him."

Logan County Sheriff Wallace Whittaker said Logan County is a special place. The number of volunteers who have shown up to help the effort has been amazing. Harkleroad agrees, saying there are just too many to enumerate. "Farmers, business people, private citizens, everyone wanted to help find these individuals," said Whittaker.

There have been at least four wrecks in the past 18 months at this bridge, said Terry Cole, director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency. "In two of the four wrecks, vehicles landed in the river; but none of the other wrecks resulted in injuries," he said.

Trees used to block the entrance to the river but were cut down when utility lines were put in. Nothing has replaced those barriers and authorities believe it's a dangerous spot. Members of the Kentucky Department of Transportation came down to look at the area Monday but made no decisions.

Search efforts for John Gregory continued Thursday as thoughts of recovery haunt the many men and women who are looking for him.