A tragic end to what was a fun late-summer outing. The body of a 6-year-old boy was recovered from the Mississippi River late Monday morning near Boom Island Park in Minneapolis.
The boy, identified by family as Isaac Childress III, and two other children were riding their bikes Saturday evening at the park, and went to cool off near the Nicollet Boom Island Bridge -- an area of the river people frequently wade into.
But according to Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson, they got too far. An adult rescued two children, but Isaac did not surface. His body was recovered at around 11 a.m. about a half mile down river after a DNR officer on a jet ski near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge spotted him.
“I told my staff, ‘We’re not leaving this kid out here,’” Hutchinson said. “I told them from the day we got down here, when I told them what happened, I said, ‘We’re going to leave that boy alone in the water,’ so there’s a boat or a deputy or a DNR officer or somebody on the water looking for him. The sheriff’s office, public safety, our main goal is to help people and that sometimes gets lost in the last couple months, but we’re here to help.”
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Family members, as well as community groups like A Mother’s Love were on scene to provide support.
“Now is the time to support them during this time, but it’s important outside of this time,” Hutchinson said. “Some of his siblings saw him drown, so we need to come together and have some support.”
The medical examiner, Hutchinson said, allowed the family to see the body and to have closure from a traumatic few days and to say their goodbyes.
Gale LeFlore, Isaac’s grandmother, was thankful for the entire operation and community support.
“I need to let the sheriff’s department, the police, water patrol, fire department, any person who walked past, asked a question and looked over into the river because they were concerned, I want to say thank you,” she said. “I have never had so much positivity coming my way in such a tragic time. I’ve never lost a child. I only have two. That’s my only grandson and I miss my baby.”
“There’s a big drop-off here where the current’s a lot stronger than you give it credit for,” Hutchinson said. “It’s not safe to swim, especially if you’re not a strong swimmer. It was tough to maneuver boats in this area because the current’s so strong with the bridge and the bend, so we’re asking people not to swim here."