Search for car swept away with two boys inside in Green River will not resume today

AUBURN — Police believe they have found a car in the Green River that was swept away with two children inside this morning, but the search has been suspended for the day because of the strong current.

After evaluating the water conditions, the King County Sheriff's Office's dive team decided a short time ago that the search will not resume today. It wasn't immediately known when divers would be able to go back into the water.

Authorities had said earlier the current is so swift that it pulled a regulator out of a rescue diver's mouth.

"It's pretty dangerous now," said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.

With additional rain in the forecast, it could be some time before divers can go back into the water, he said.

Capt. Kyle Ohashi of the Kent Fire Department says there's "not much hope" for the two boys, ages 2 and 14, who were in the car. He says the 16-year-old driver escaped, according to The Associated Press.

Ohashi said what initially began as a rescue is now considered a recovery operation.

Auburn Police Sgt. Scott Near said that around 8:45 a.m. the car's driver, a 16-year-old girl, called 911 to report that her silver Volkswagen Beetle went off the roadway while driving on Green River Road near Auburn Golf Course.

While the driver, the aunt of at least one of the boys, managed to get out, the two boys were still in the car when it went downriver. The driver tried to rescue them, but in vain.

Valley Regional Fire Authority Battalion Chief Dan Bosch said that when he arrived at the scene this morning, he found the driver sitting on the riverbank soaking wet and distraught. Bosch said she told him she tried to re-enter the car after it went into the water but the current swept her away.

He said she told him the children were inside.

He said the vehicle may be on its side.

The accident happened on a windy stretch of roadway that follows the curves of the river.

Bosch said the rescue operation is very dangerous because the river is running high and fast and is full of debris. The water is also extremely murky.

Dozens of police, firefighters and rescue workers from surrounding communities had focused the search along the riverbank just north of the golf course in an area about 50 yards downstream from where they believe the car went into the water.

In Kent, firefighters rescued a man around 6 a.m. whose car had become stalled in floodwaters in the 22000 block of 76 Avenue South.

The driver had tried to make a U-turn and accidentally drove into a ditch, which ran alongside the road. It is possible the ditch was hidden by the deep standing water, police said. The driver was able to climb out and get onto the roof the submerged car, which is where firefighters found him.

Using a ladder, personal flotation device and rope, Kent firefighters rescued the man, who was not injured.