Child, 7, drowns in river
Published 1:01 am Wednesday, August 7, 2013
A 7-year-old Andalusia boy is dead after drowning in Yellow River Tuesday.
The child was identified as Noah Davis, Sheriff Dennis Meeks said.
“Deputies were sent to the area near North Creek at approximately 3:15 p.m.,” Meeks said. “Upon arrival deputies found two adults that stated boy had drowned in the river.”
Sources at the scene said the adults were navigating the river, when Davis, who was tied to a tree with a rope, was swept under by the fast-moving current. Investigators said Davis was pushed into some tree limbs, where he drowned.
It took members of the Andalusia Police Department dive team more than two hours to locate Davis, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Norman Hobson after being pulled from the water.
Sally Thompson was working at North Creek General Store when the child’s mother ran in for help.
“She said, ‘No signal; no signal, 911,” Thompson said. “It took a few moments for me to calm her down enough where I could understand what she was saying. Finally, it came out.
“She said, ‘My baby; my baby. We were at the river and he went on sand bar and he went under and he didn’t come back out,’” Thompson said. “I asked her if there was anyone down there and she said there was.
“It’s just so horrible,” she said.
The case remains under investigation, and it is unknown if charges will be filed in the case.
A number of law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, lent help in the recovery process, Meeks said.