Car With 2 Boys Possibly Found In River

Search Teams May Have Located Vehicle That Ran Off Wash. Road With 2 Children Trapped Inside

(CBS/AP)  Rescuers temporarily suspended efforts Friday to recover a car, reportedly with two boys inside, that went into the rain-swollen Green River south of Seattle, fire officials said.

Kent Fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi said conditions in the fast-flowing and murky river were too dangerous for the rescue crew.

Capt. Kyle Ohashi of the Kent Fire Department told CBS affiliate KIRO that divers found a metal object in the river that could be the car. He said there's "not much hope" for two children, ages 2 and 14, who were reportedly in the vehicle and not able to get out.

Ohashi said because the river has risen so high and is flowing so fast, it is not worth risking divers' lives to recover the car immediately. Further efforts to recover it will be under the direction of King County officials, he said.

A tow truck was brought in to haul out the vehicle. But the suburban river has long been used as a dumping ground for cars, and Ohashi said that because of the swift current and poor visibility, rescuers weren't able to positively say it was the missing car or whether anyone was inside.

Ohashi said a 16-year-old girl driving the car escaped and called authorities around 8:45 a.m. to report that her Volkswagen went off a road and into the river.

Auburn police Sgt. Scott Near said the driver is the aunt of one of the boys. She was taken to Auburn Regional Medical Center.

"She is extremely distraught," he said.

Near said the car was northbound on Green River Road when it went off the road just north of the Auburn Golf Course.

"She was able to get out. She went back into the water to try to rescue the kids," he said.

When she wasn't able to reach them, she flagged down a vehicle and called for help.

Battalion Chief Dan Bosch of the Valley Regional Fire Authority said the girl told him when he arrived at the scene that she had lost control and crashed into the river.

Steady rain overnight in Western Washington left many roads slick and waterlogged, along with swelling many of the region's rivers.

"The river has risen 4 feet. It's extremely murky, and the current is going good," Near said.

A dive team and KIRO's Chopper 7 began searching for the car in the muddy, fast-moving waters of the river near Kent.

Teams in three boats searched the waters of the swiftly-running river but the river is extremely muddy and visibility is low after heavy overnight rains sparked flood warnings and car crashes across Western Washington. Divers have also entered the icy waters to aid in the search.

At the Kent Fire Department's request, Chopper 7 assisted in the search from the command post, where the vehicle entered the river, to Central Avenue in Kent.

Video showed teams using a device to drag the river and divers wearing weight belts to help them maintain control against the river's strong currents.

Bosch told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that rescue workers probing the river with long poles struck an object they believed to be the vehicle, about 100 yards north of where the girl said it entered the river. When they first struck it, a child's drinking cup floated to the surface, he said.

[moosbrth]

Where do these journalists get the edamacation?

Swelled? The Search wes suspended?

Rescue teams search the swelled Green River at Kent, Wash., for a car with two children trapped inside, Nov. 7, 2008. The search wes suspended an object believed to be the vehicle was located.

[nokids4me]

"She went back into the river to try to rescue the kids".

Sure she did.

[godseyesore-2009]

Sounds like she panicked and left the kids. Too bad.

[calicocat6]

For autumn987: If you really want to post graffiti, this is not the appropriate place to do so. Your ramblings are disturbing and should not be posted here.

[phoenix357-2009]

16 Is a good driving age, I went from getting two speeding tickets within the first two weeks of having my liscense to having a CDL and having gone through driving schools, and have registered miles and hours behind the wheel of large trucks weighing 55,000lbs or more with trailered backhoes and heavy equipment. The thing that surprises and baffles me the most is that people ( from bicyclist to mom and dad) do the craziest, stupidist moves around trucks, or on slick roads,or with kids in the car! This girl obviously was moving too fast for the slick conditions, it is a given. I beleive the law in some states don''t allow passengers with kids who just got their liscence. When I first heard this on the news I was very saddened; I hope and pray this family gets through this and that all of us SLOW-DOWN a little bit, It shouldn''t cost lives to learn a lesson.

[dewbug2]

fush2 and lynhxa,you''re a little hard on a 16 year old kid....she is of legal driving age, so let the authorities do their jobs....16 year olds who are otherwise responsible people, have no experience dealing with anything like that...give her a break, please...her name isn''t Kennedy!

[gunnertwo1]

That''s a sad story. Having been involved in several rescues of such a nature it''s difficult to say why she survived and the boys didn''t without all the facts. Things happen so quickly that there is little time to think. I can''t fault her for not getting the kids out unless it was physically possible for her to do and chose not to. Don''t think that''s the case.

[lynxha]

This is a unfortunate accident,yet I wonder why a 16 year old girl was out driving on wet and rainy night with 2 younger children in the vehicle

[fush2]

how did she get out of that car and wasnt able to get to the kids???hmmm...

[be_real]

Posted by skarrzpapi at 07:14 AM : Nov 08, 2008


The driving age should be 17 and attending high school or 18.