Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Responders are looking for a 17-year-old Tacoma boy in the Chehalis River at Rainbow Falls State Park.
He and his friends had been camping and decided to swim near the falls when he went under, came up flailing and was pulled under again, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Fire Chief Tim Kinder said he responded with a thermal imaging camera to assist but the current was too swift.
The initial call came about 3:20 p.m.
“My understanding is another teen grabbed a hold of him, but was not able to hold on,” Kinder said.
A diver was on the way to the scene about 6 p.m.
The swift water rescue team from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has been searching and are still out there this evening, sheriff’s office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said at about 8 p.m.
More to come as information becomes available.
Update Sunday June 15, 2014: The young man’s body was recovered this morning in the same area where he went under, a teen originally from Nigeria, only in Washington for eight months on his first-ever camping trip, according to the sheriff’s office.
Lewis County Fire Districts 16 and 11 along with the sheriff’s office swift water rescue team and a diver from Thurston County reconvened this morning after a search last night that went until dark, according to Brown.
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CORRECTION: This has been updated to correct an error made in relating a statement made by Chief Kinder.