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LATEST UPDATE
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - The body of an "African American child" matching the description of the missing 4-year-old boy was located at 10:39 a.m. Sunday. The body has been transported to the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's Office. Officials are asking for prayers for the family.
Search underway for missing 4-year-old in Yellow River
PREVIOUS UPDATE
The search resumed at 8:15 a.m. Sunday for the 4-year-old boy who went missing at the Yellow River Park at Stone Mountain on Saturday.
Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services says this continues to be a rescue effort and three boats will search the river, working down the river from the park. Ground crews will also search the area. Gwinnett County Police and Department of Natural Resources are assisting with the search.
Search underway for missing 4-year-old in Yellow River
Current weather conditions are preventing the use of helicopters and UAVs.
ORIGINAL STORY
A mother suffered her worst nightmare Saturday afternoon when she looked away from her 4-year-old son for a second, and turned back to see his head go under the water of Stone Mountain's Yellow River.
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Gwinnett and DeKalb County officials attempted an emergency search and rescue for the child around 5:47 p.m. The team searched the land, sent out an inflatable boat on the river and a chopper in the air to survey the water. All units, except for a Gwinnett County Police helicopter suspended their search around 8 p.m. as the sun went down.
Capt. Ryan McGiboney with Gwinnett County Fire said his team, along with all participating units, are not giving up hope and will resume their efforts in the morning.
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"The rain forecasted for early tomorrow morning is going to complicate search efforts, and we're gonna have to wait and see when conditions are safe enough for crews to resume searching," he said. "It's really tough because everybody wants to see a happy ending. Unfortunately, sometimes details can look grim. We're not giving up hope, we remain hopeful that a miracle appears."
McGiboney said the 4-year-old boy is an African-American child who was last seen wearing black sweatpants. He said this isn't the first water rescue the Yellow River Park has had.
"Especially now that temperatures are warming up, we want to remind everybody – this child did not have a flotation device on, a life jacket – those are things that we always encourage people to have on whenever they're around the river," he said.
McGiboney described the Yellow River Park waters at 3050 Juhan Road as shallow, but with fast currents as a result of recent rainy weather. He said after Sunday morning's showers, the river could swell and become littered with branches and rocks that add to the risk factor for everyone involved.
A helicopter with infrared cameras will continue circling the river looking for the boy until about 1 a.m. on Sunday when the rain is expected to begin.
"Say a prayer for the family, say prayers for our crews who are searching," the captain concluded the press conference. "We're gonna remain hopeful that this story will have a happy ending, and we're not giving up hope yet."
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