Police Seek Teens Who Left Suicide Notes

A teen couple who may have made a suicide pact are still missing but emergency crews suspended an extensive search along the Lehigh River Friday afternoon.

"We searched by foot. We searched by boat. We weren't finding anything. The search has been suspended," Catasauqua Police Chief Douglas Kish said in a phone call to Patch at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Kish asks anyone who has seen Mariah Lopez of Catasauqua or Warren Houtling of North Catasauqua - or who knows where they are - to call 610-437-5252.

Kish said police are continuing to investigate. Police have tried to find the teens by "pinging" their cell phones but no success Friday morning. The Morning Call interviewed the mother of Mariah Lopez and she said the girl's phone was on briefly in the Whitehall area - a hopeful sign that the teens may be found safe. WFMZ also spoke with Mariah's mother.

Lopez and Houtling, both 16 years old, each left a suicide note in their home Thursday night. The notes led officials to believe the couple may have jumped off a bridge into the rain-swollen Lehigh River.

Emergency crews staged operations at the Catasauqua Wastewater Treatment Plant by the Race Street Bridge for about seven hours Friday. Crews searched the riverside at the Pine Street Bridge and bridges in Hokendauqua and Coplay south to Union Boulevard in Allentown.

The search included members of the Northampton, Whitehall, Catasuqua and Allentown fire departments, as well as Allentown EMS and Lehigh County technical crews. Officials requested aerial support from Pennsylvania State Police but were not able to use aircraft because of poor weather.