The staging area of Lock No. 2 at Long Level in York County took on a quiet and calm appearance Friday evening as waves from motorboats lapped on the shoreline of the Susquehanna River.

Emergency crews awaited the arrival of a diving team in the search for Chris Johnson, the West Hempfield Township fisherman who disappeared Wednesday morning in the Lake Charles section of the river.

Brian Morrin, public information officer for York County's Office of Emergency Management, said Friday's large-scale search did not yield any definite signs of Johnson, 24, but rescue crews will have a number of leads to pursue this morning.

"We've got a really good coordinated response going here today, and hopefully we'll be able to bring some resolution to this," Morrin said.

Friday's search centered on several K-9 units trained to identify human scent in water.

Dog teams from Baltimore, the Poconos and Philadelphia identified a number of "areas of interest," both in shallow and deep sections of the river where Johnson may be found, Morrin said.

Rescuers had to clear the river of recreational boats, Morrin said, so the K-9 units didn't pick up false scents, such as burning fuel from engines.

The Hanover-based York County Dive Team was called in to inspect the areas of interest on Friday but did not have enough manpower to send crews into the water.

The team will be joined this morning by a diving unit from Harford County, Md.

The York diving team is equipped with side-scanning sonar that can take digital images of objects in the water.

Morrin declined to identify the specific areas of interest because he said crews didn't want the search attempt impeded.

"We want to preserve those areas and make sure they're not disturbed and just let the rescuers do their work," Morrin said.

The Lake Clark Lock No. 2 recreation area and boat launch will remain closed today so crews can continue searching, Morrin said. He was concerned about the high number of recreational boats that will on the river for the Memorial Day weekend.

Morrin said emergency boats will attempt to cordon off the area to create a visual line and barrier as the diving search effort goes forward.

"The last thing we need is to have one of the rescuers hurt conducting this operation," Morrin said.

Investigators said they believe Johnson fell into the river near Manor Township on Wednesday between 5:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., when a group of kayakers found his bass boat near the York County shoreline, just south of Long Level.

Johnson's boat was found with the engine running, investigators said, and his Labrador retriever puppy, fishing gear and personal items, including a cell phone, still onboard.

Johnson, a former U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal, had his right arm injured in a June 2004 firefight in Fallujah, Iraq, and underwent surgery more than 10 times before having the arm amputated.

Searching for Johnson on Friday were almost 50 rescuers from all over the region, including Cumberland County crews and a medivac helicopter from Lancaster that flew over the river. Morrin said 10 boats and 15 different agencies were involved.

"It just goes to show how serious these people take their jobs," Morrin said.

Family and friends of Johnson have been at the rescue staging area for the last three days, Morrin said, and several of his friends have gone out in boats to aid in the search.

A contingent of Johnson's Marine Corps friends searched the York County side of the river Friday, starting at Safe Harbor Dam about 6 a.m. and walking along the banks to the staging area, more than 5 miles through the woods, and finishing about 2 p.m.

"Their thinking was (Johnson) was a Marine, and if anybody could survive this, it would have been him," Morrin said.

Employees of Norfolk Southern Railroad have been searching along the banks of the river on the Lancaster County side, Morrin said. Employees at Safe Harbor Dam have been on the lookout as well.

Friday was the first day of good weather for searching. Crews had to battle heavy rains on Wednesday and sustained winds of 15 to 20 mph with 30 mph gusts on Thursday.

For safety purposes, crews had only six boats on the water on Thursday, Morrin said, and they were "taking a pounding" on the river.

"I was watching the boats do their thing through the binoculars, and the guys out on the bow actually trying to do the site work were getting bounced around like crazy," Morrin said.

"They were coming in and you could tell they were exhausted."

Crews search the Susquehanna River for missing boater Chris Johnson

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com