5-year-old drowns near Rainier
Saturday, July 12, 2008 11:59 PM PDT
By Amy M.E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleA 5-year-old Kirkland, Wash., boy drowned after falling into the Columbia River at about 2 p.m. Saturday off Dibblee Point beach west of Rainier.
Rescue workers recovered the child’s body around 5 p.m., according to Columbia County emergency dispatchers.
Earlier that afternoon, a crowd of family members and beachgoers stood onshore, grimly watching as the Cowlitz County Dive Team combed the water about 20 feet from shore near pilings at the east end of the popular recreation spot.
A wild-eyed man in a swimsuit huddled against a vehicle parked on the sand and sobbed into his cell phone.
U.S. Coast Guard helicopters flew low along the Oregon shore of the Columbia just west of the Lewis and Clark Bridge. Members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police also responded to the scene.
How the boy fell into the river remains unclear. Bystanders said they heard the boy was either riding on the back of a Jet Ski or being towed on a float behind a Jet Ski when he fell into the water. The boy was at the beach with some family members, said Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Troy Caldwell, who refused to release the child’s name or any other information.
Antonio Mendez, 40, of Salem, said he had just arrived at the beach for a camping trip when he saw a boy in the water about 20 feet west of the pilings.
“I saw a kid, his hands coming up and down in the water, and then I didn’t see him,” Mendez said. “My son went to go get him, but he was under the water by that time.”
Rafael Mendez, 18, said he jumped in the river but couldn’t find the boy. The water is waist-deep several yards from shore, but then the river bottom drops sharply and he couldn’t touch the bottom, Rafael Mendez said.
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