Drowning Victims Identified
Updated 8:19 AM EST, Tue, Jul 7, 2009
The bodies of two males who drowned in the Delaware River on Friday have been identified as 11-year-old Raniel Molina and his 43-year-old uncle, Hector Rosa of North Philadelphia.
Molina was out on a boating trip with his uncle and another man on Friday when he fell off into the river near the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.
Both men on the 16-foot recreational boat jumped into the water to try to rescue the boy, but only one made it back to safety.
The man told authorities that by the time he turned the boat around to get the two in the water he had lost sight of them, Petty Officer 3rd Class Crystalynn Kneen, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said.
After an intense search, Philadelphia marine police recovered the body of the Rosa on Saturday about 200 yards away from the spot where he went into the water, authorities said. Molina was found on Sunday afternoon.
The three were not wearing life jackets. The river temperature was 75 degrees and boating conditions were not dangerous at the time, Kneen said. It was unclear whether the child knew how to swim, she said.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Philadelphia
First Published: Jul 4, 2009 2:24 PM EST
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