Second youth’s body recovered from Illinois River at Beardstown
BEARDSTOWN -- The bodies of two boys missing since Thursday night in the Illinois River at Beardstown have been recovered.
A 15-year-old’s body was found about 9:30 a.m. Saturday in shallow water on the east side of the river, according to public-safety officials.
About 24 hours earlier, the body of his 12-year-old companion was recovered in water near a railroad bridge in Beardstown, which has about 5,500 residents.
“Words can simply not express the sadness our community feels at the loss of these two young people, and our most sincere sympathies are extended to the members of their families,” Brian Becker, the Beardstown fire chief, stated in a news release.
Neither boy’s identity was revealed, pending notification of relatives. Scott Lummis, the Cass County death investigator, said more information probably would be forthcoming Sunday.
The site where the older boy was found was almost within sight of the sandbar where both children last were seen, according to the Beardstown Volunteer Fire Department.
The two apparently were playing in shallow water about 7:30 p.m. Thursday when they waded too far into the river, were caught in the current and disappeared.
According to Lummis, the area where the boys were playing was just east of downtown Beardstown and the city marina. It’s near where the Sangamon River flows into the Illinois.
“There’s a drop-off,” Lummis said about the junction area. “They did not have life jackets on, and they just went down.
“Kids go down to the marina and swim. Where they were at, because the water’s so low, you can get to the main channel pretty easy right now.”
Rescuers had been searching the river since shortly after the boys vanished. Among them were searchers from Fulton and Mason counties and from as far as the Quad Cities and Wisconsin, according to Becker.
The search for the older boy resumed Saturday morning after it apparently was halted at nightfall Friday.
“People can fault Beardstown for a lot of things, but they can’t fault the compassion and the heart of this community,” Becker stated. “The support people have shown for this department and the volunteers who’ve served here these last few days has been remarkable.”
Beardstown is located about 80 miles southwest of Peoria and about 50 miles northwest of Springfield.