The search for a 29-year-old Buckley man last seen around 6 p.m. on the Puyallup River Sunday came up empty.

The man and a group of seven friends left from Orting for a float down the river on inner tubes.

Friends said the man was not wearing a life jacket and insisted on swimming beside his raft.

"I was like, ‘Get back on your raft.  Get on your raft,’ and he kept horsing around and trying to flip ours and I'm like, ‘You're going to lose your raft and it's going to be gone,’" said friend Greg Barrager.

During the float, sudden rapids left the group scrambling for nearby land.

"We were all struggling to get onto that bar so we weren't paying that close of attention.  Then we turn around and all we see is his tube and that's about it," said Barrager.

Pierce County deputies said teams looked for the man by water, land and air but could not locate him or his missing inner tube.

Searchers report it is still possible that he made it safely to shore since they haven’t found his inner tube.

The search will resume at 9 a.m. on Monday.