Five-year-old missing after being swept away by river
Authorities in central California are searching for a 5-year-old girl who was swept away by a swollen river.
The Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department says the girl slipped off rocks and fell into the Stanislaus River Sunday afternoon.
It says several relatives and bystanders tried to rescue her but couldn’t reach her.
The department says in a statement crews on boat and a helicopter searched until darkness Sunday but called off their search because of the river’s dangerous conditions.
The girl’s mother, Marissa Vasquez, tells the Modesto Bee the search for her daughter Matilda Ortiz resumed Monday morning.
Deputy Royjindar Singh says Matilda was with her father and that he jumped in, but began to struggle. Singh says a bystander had a grip of the girl briefly before she was swept away.
