A 13-year-old girl has died and her 12-year-old brother is still missing after the siblings fell into dangerous waters in the Kankakee River Monday evening.
Just before 6 p.m., authorities in Wilmington, roughly 60 miles southwest of Chicago, were called to a report of people distressed in the river and unable to get out.
Officials said two children who had been in the area for a family picnic, were playing in the river in South Island Park when they got too close to the dam.
According to Chief Phillip Arnold, the children began struggling to swim when two Good Samaritans jumped in to help them. The Good Samaritans then began having trouble in the turbulent water and officials arriving at the scene managed to rescue one of them using throw ropes while the other was pulled out of the water.
The 13-year-old girl was ejected from rolling water near the dam and pulled out by bystanders along the shore with the help of a rope, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at Joliet Hospital.
“The dam produces that turbulent effect that’s why we have the signs posted down there because it’s hard to get out of once you get into it,” said Deputy Chief Todd Friddle.
The girl’s 12-year-old brother was still missing as of Monday evening.
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Police said the search for the boy was suspended for the evening and would resume as a recovery mission at dawn.
