Son cried, being thoroughly searched (5)
I believe the answer is:
swept
'thoroughly searched' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'son cried' is the wordplay.
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'cried' becomes 'wept' ('weep' can be a synonym of 'cry').
's'+'wept'='SWEPT'
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for swept that I've seen before include "overwhelmed" , "what daily did" , "Quickly passed" , "Cleaned by brushing" , "Brushed up (dust)" .)