Family continue to pray, search for missing paraglider

By Gabriela Vidal

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — It’s the feeling of being on top of the world that has quickly made paragliding 35-year-old Kenny Loudermilk’s passion for the last three to four years.

“I knew that he was having fun when he was flying,” said Kylie Loudermilk, Kenny’s daughter.

His 15-year-old daughter, Kylie, is what keeps him grounded.

“He was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better dad. he would always take me on vacations, and he would love to surprise me and try to make it as best as he could. And he would just make it full of adventures,” Kylie said. “I miss him being here and us having the time that we had together.”

Kenny has now been missing for nearly a week.

“For us as a family, we’re going over and over in our head to figure out what happened. And we truly don’t know,” said Kevin Baker, Kenny’s brother-in-law.

The avid paraglider first went missing on October 26, after taking his paraglider out for a trip around the Missouri River around sunset.

“With the leaves turning, he wanted to be part of and really see the leaves turning with the trees, and just the change in the fall weather,” Baker said.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson tells News 4, after days of searching the water for Kenny, they are now in recovery mode. This comes after witnesses say they saw his body go underwater and not resurface.

So far, MSHP’s Marine Operations Division has used sonar imaging and dragging equipment to search approximately six miles of the river from where he went into the water. Neither Kenny nor his paragliding equipment has been found.

“Because we know how safe he is and how he makes sure everything is perfect, we feel like he had some kind of equipment failure prior to flight, which caused him to appear as if he was going to go under the bridge off highway 47 in Washington,” said Baker, “putting him in the center of the river.”

Baker says this sudden loss is especially difficult for Kylie who already lost her mother when she was only three. She is now living with her grandparents.

“I can always feel his presence,” Kylie said.

Yet, Kylie remains strong and hopeful.

“I know he’s here and I’m thinking that he would want me to stay positive and not focus on the negative,” Kylie said.

A GoFundMe page created by Kenny’s family is raising money to support Kylie through her private school education as well as funding the ongoing search efforts.

“It’s amazing to see the humanity in people,” Baker said about the support they have received from family, friends and strangers since Kenny’s disappearance.

The community’s love and prayers keep Kylie and her family hopeful they will be able to bring Kenny home soon.

“I think that we should keep searching and keep searching until we find him and bring him home,” Kylie said. “I think that we will find him.”

Missouri State Highway Patrol says there is no timeline for when the search may stop, but they may begin scaling back their hours each day. On Wednesday, they plan to start in Weldon Spring and eventually work their way downstream toward the Mississippi River.

The family has planned a candlelight vigil for Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. at the James Rennick Park in Washington. The family says the public is invited to come out and show their support.

“We are going to pray to bring Kenny home,” Baker said. “We want to embrace each other and come together as a community.”

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