BOY LOST IN RIVER
RESCUE OPERATION
TURNS TO RECOVERY

Just minutes after 2 p.m. Saturday a young boy ran into the lobby of the Elyria Police Department, franticly looking for someone to help him and his friend. The boy informed Police that he and his 13-year-old friend had been playing by the water falls behind the Police Station on Lake Ave. He said his friend climbed on the wall that borders the falls and fell off the ledge and onto the falls.

Chief Ron Brlas of the Elyria Fire Department made calls for Lorain County 9-1-1 to start activating mutual aid resources for manpower and Dive Teams.
Firefighters made their way down to the riverbank and began searching for signs of the victim but could not locate him.

Benton said that Rescuers are focusing in on the area right at the base of the waterfall. “There is usually a “wheel” created underneath the water from the waterfall – we’re concentrating in that area right now cause that’s usually the area that traps the debris. Once they get that area checked then they will fan out across the rest of the water area.”

Benton says that the Black River is a very dangerous river and people should treat it as such. “I cannot tell you how many victims we have had in this river over the years – it’s very deceiving. People a lot of times will think of a river as just being a couple feet deep and under the falls it can be as much as 30 feet deep.”
When asked if Benton thought something should be done to block off the area to prevent kids from playing in that area he said that no matter what they do – the falls are too enticing to kids. “Before we fixed this area up there was a chain link fence with barbed wire on top and kids still found away to get over to the falls. It’s too tempting and I believe that no matter what you put up people will find away to get around it unfortunately.”
Police will have an Officer posted at the Observation Deck throughout the overnight hours making sure that scene remains secure until Firefighters and Divers return Sunday morning.
Today’s operation included multiple agencies from across Lorain County and even into Cuyahoga County. According to Benton Elyria received assistance from Avon, Amherst, Sheffield Township, Elyria Township, Wellington, Lorain County Emergency Management Agency – Command Post, LifeCare Ambulance and the Lorain County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Special assistance was provided by experts trained in the use of Sonar from Cuyahoga County and a representative from Lorain Police Department’s Dive Team.
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