Helicopters and drones used to search for 8-year-old girl missing after accident

Authorities in Texas are expanding the search for an 8-year-old girl who went missing after a Christmas Eve morning crash, now considering other “focused areas of interest.”

Officials in Sherman, Texas, said an SUV carrying six people from Durant, Oklahoma, was swept away by floodwaters on Interstate 75 and crashed into a drainage ditch around 9:30 a.m.

Four days later, Sherman Police Chief Jason Jeffcoat said an 8-year-old girl, Clara Robinson, was still missing.

Beloved high school coach and father Will Robinson and his family are pictured before their tragic wreck on Christmas Eve.

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“Search teams are continuing their efforts to search Post Oak Creek, near the site where the initial rescue efforts took place,” Jeffcoat said. “There are also crews searching a 10-mile stretch of Post Oak Creek and Choctaw Creek.”

On Friday, police used K9 teams, dive teams, drone teams and helicopters to continue searching for Robinson.

Crews include personnel from the Sherman Fire Department, Sherman Police Department, Sherman Fire Rescue, Grayson County Sheriff's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife Texas, from Texas Task Force Two, Texas Division of Emergency Management, Grayson County Office of Emergency Management. , Public Works and Brady Baskin, a local rescue diver.

Texas Task Force Two divided its team for the search, focusing on both the streams and other “targeted areas of interest,” which were not specified.

Sherman officials said they will continue to search for Clara until she is found.

A photo of the overturned car was shared by KXII. (KXII)

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Will Robinson, father of four children, including Clara, died in the accident while trying to rescue a 5-year-old girl who was unresponsive when rescuers arrived.

The young girl was then reunited with her family, which firefighters called “a great blessing in this tragedy.”

“The father [had] “The little girl in his arms at one point during the event, and later they weren't together anymore, so it looked like he was trying to save her – definitely,” said Bart Bowman of Sherman Fire Rescue .

Police credit Will Robinson with saving a 5-year-old girl who was also involved in the crash. (The Owen Foundation)

“One of our guys was able to find the little girl underwater, pulled her out and handed her over to one of our paramedics who was with him,” Bowman said. “That paramedic took her to the ambulance, and they performed CPR on the way to the hospital. … With a near drowning like that, it's absolutely remarkable that she was released the next day without issue .It’s a great blessing in this tragedy.”

Community members told Fox 4 that Will Robinson was the girls basketball coach at Durant High School in Oklahoma.

“He always took CJ [his daughter, Clara] to practice, and she was always playing with us,” Kinlee Hill said.

Players noted that Robinson was an understanding coach and said he did everything possible to keep them in a positive mindset.

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“He was so patient with us girls,” player Emeri Morse said. “Honestly, I don't think I remember a time when he raised his voice at us in anger. … [He and C.J] there were absolutely two peas in a pod. They were at practice, always together, and CJ would run up to him or ask him for snacks.”

Fox Texas Digital, Dan Godwin and David Sunderey of Fox 4 contributed to this story.