The search for missing 6-year-old Cazhia McMillian will resume at Friday morning.

Those involved with the search say they are facing tough conditions in and around the river where she was last seen.

The Little River is a fast-moving, debris-strewn body of water that even veteran divers are wary of.

"If there was no current at all, you could search it and there'd be no problem,'' explains Lee Marshal, a diver with the Angier Fire Department.

The river is no easier on those who are working on its surface.

"It's hard to steer the boat with the current. You can't get near the banks. The front end wants go one way and the tail end wants to go the other way," explains Thomas Beasley of the Boone Volunteer Fire Department.

Beasley spent hours Wednesday afternoon with his colleagues scouring a 5-mile stretch of the river engaging in hours of arm-tiring work with lines.

"We're using grapples off another boat. It's rough. We're pulling logs and limbs and getting hung up. It's bad," he said.

Because of the nature of the river, searching underwater can be a formable task.

"It's black, black water. We're just feeling with our hands," said Marshall. "You can only see about a foot in front of you because you're stirring up the bottom."

And Marshall says he's never been on an operation like this.

"I've been searching for 23 years and this is the worst one. The current is the worst and the water temperature's temp's bad."

Crews also searched by air and along the banks of the river, looking for any sign of the little girl.

But as the daylight began to grow scarce, officials had to admit the search efforts would have to be curtailed somewhat.

"We're going to scale back," said Flat Branch Fire Chief T.J. McLamb. "We kind of pushed it a little hard Tuesday night, but it's dangerous at night especially with the fast moving current on the river."

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