Searchers are in their third day of trying to find a 20-year-old woman who has been missing since early Friday while camping with a friend on a Minnesota River sandbar southwest of the Twin Cities.

Authorities say they suspect drinking played a role in the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Moriah L. Zwart, of Le Sueur, Minn.

Le Sueur County Sheriff Dave Tietz said Sunday "there are no indications" that they will find Zwart alive. Sunday's search on the water resumed at 8 a.m., the sheriff said.

Hennepin County has sent its water patrol to join in the effort to locate Zwart, Tietz said.

According to the Sheriff's Office:

Zwart and her female friend were camping for the night on the sandbar along the Minnesota River's east bank, near the southwest corner of the city of Le Sueur. They brought alcohol with them.

The friend "lost track of Zwart" early Friday, the Sheriff's Office statement read. The friend then went to the home of Zwart's parents.

A search of the area around where the two were camping was followed by a wider hunt around the river bottoms near where the friend last saw Zwart.

Searchers found personal property including Zwart's cellphone, the sheriff told the Le Sueur News-Herald, and added that foul play is not suspected. The Sheriff's Office said it is "confident that the river bottom area was searched thoroughly," and the focus will shift to the river.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482