Powerful Green River halts search for 2 boys

AUBURN — The murky brown water of the Green River has surrendered scores of secrets over the years, from victims of the Northwest's most notorious serial killer to stolen and abandoned cars.

But the river refused to yield Friday for searchers who scoured the water in search of two boys, ages 2 and 13, who were trapped in a car that was swept into the swift-moving current sometime after 8:30 a.m.

With the force of the current so strong it tore the regulator from the mouth of a rescue diver, emergency personnel suspended the search by early afternoon. A resumption will depend on the river and the weather.

"It could be days," said King County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart. "The Green River goes up and down fairly quickly depending on what the rain does."

Nonetheless, relatives of the boys conceded any hope had dimmed hours before the search was called off as rescuers desperately searched through the water trying to find some trace of the Volkswagen Beetle. The driver of the car, a 16-year-old girl who authorities said is the aunt of one of the boys, was able to get out of the car before it was swept downstream.

"We're grateful to have the kids we still got, and we just want our baby out of the water," Chad Beaupre, father of one of the boys, told KING-TV.

Auburn police and Valley Regional Fire Authority responded to a 911 call from the 16-year-old girl around 8:45 a.m.

When Battalion Chief Dan Bosch arrived at the Green River Road north of the Auburn Golf Course, he said he found the cold, wet and distraught girl sitting on the riverbank. She told him that her car went into the river and as it began to sink, she got out and then tried to rescue the two boys, who were still in the car, but she was swept away by the current.

Dozens of emergency workers jammed the usually quiet two-lane road that follows the river through stands of cottonwood trees.

As a police helicopter hovered above, several rafts were lowered and firefighters probed the rushing water with 8-foot pikes that were submerged nearly to the handles. Several hours later, firefighters stopped referring to their efforts as a rescue operation and focused on recovery.

The children had been in the river too long to have survived, said Kent Fire Department spokesman Kyle Ohashi.

When firefighters' poles struck something beneath the river's surface, divers went down but encountered the swift current.

The section of river is the site where old or stolen cars often are dumped, police said. Because the water is so dark with silt and debris, it was impossible to closely examine what rescuers believe is a submerged car resting on its side.

Near the golf course, family members of the two boys stood beneath umbrellas in the light rain, hoping for news.

Relatives told KING-TV the 16-year-old was driving the boys to school and day care. The 2-year-old was identified as Hunter, but the name of 13-year-old was not released. The boys are not brothers, a family member said. Curt Beaupre, uncle of the boys, told KING-TV the younger boy normally would have been in day care when the accident occurred.

"When they got to the day care, because the 2-year-old was sick, they were asked that the 2-year-old not be dropped off," he told KING-TV.

It was unclear why the car ended up in the water, although the roads were slick with rain and the section of road is winding. The driver was taken to Auburn Regional Medical Center.

Throughout the afternoon, deputies continued to investigate the riverbank. A large metal car part was at the site where the VW went into the river. Police wouldn't say if it is related to the accident or speculate how fast the driver may have been going.

Seattle Times staff reporter Sonia Krishnan contributed to this report.