Rescue Mission

Boy Feared Lost After Fall Into Los Angeles River Drainage System

Authorities desperately searching for 13-year-old.

Los Angeles authorities continued a desperate search overnight for a boy, 13, who fell through a drainage pipe and into the Los Angeles River. The Los Angeles Fire Department told KABC the accident happened at 4:30 p.m. local time when the boy and his friends climbed over a chain-link fence and entered an abandoned maintenance shed. A wooden plank the boy was standing on gave way and he fell through a drainage pipe that empties into the Los Angeles River. Some 100 firefighters are looking for the boy in the winding labyrinth that leads to the river. The fire department released a photo of the boy and named him as Jesse Hernandez in the hope the public could offer more information of his whereabouts. Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell said: “Earlier tonight, the LA Mayor’s Crisis Response Team was deployed to support the terrified mother & family members of Jesse Hernandez. Sending prayers all through the night for Jesse’s safe return.”