(DailyVantage.com) – Authorities from Chester, Pennsylvania, are currently engaged in a recovery mission seeking to find a missing 6-year-old girl who became lost after falling into a local creek.
The girl, Lin’ajah Brooker, went missing after she fell into Chester Creek while playing with one of her friends. Brooker fell into the creek during intense rainfall, which caused the creek’s current to be stronger than usual and swept her away to an unknown location. While authorities are still attempting to find Brooker, they’ve shifted their goal from rescuing her to recovering her body.
According to John-Paul Shirley, Chester’s Fire Commissioner, Brooker likely died after being pulled downstream, as it has been multiple days without a lead or any evidence of the missing child’s whereabouts. Shirley said that authorities shifted to a recovery mission due to how many hours have passed since Brooker fell into Chester Creek, but that search parties aren’t giving up hope that she could’ve survived the ordeal. The United States Coast Guard participated in the search effort, along with multiple fire departments, but search parties haven’t uncovered any leads.
Shirley cited the intense creek conditions as another reason for shifting the rescue mission to a recovery mission. The recent storm caused a fierce current that could’ve carried Brooker miles from where she fell into the creek, causing search party members to worry that Brooker likely died or ended up in the Delaware River just moments after falling into Chester Creek. The downpour caused more than two inches of rain to accumulate in the area when Brooker disappeared, substantially lowering her chance of survival, according to Shirley.
Stefan Roots, Chester’s Mayor, released a statement about Brooker’s tragic disappearance and shared updates about the ongoing recovery efforts. According to Roots, the Coast Guard provided drones to search parties to assist in the search for Brooker’s whereabouts. Fire departments are using boats, along with drones, to search various waterways in the region to find Brooker’s body. Roots expressed his sympathies to Brooker’s family and said that Chester considers her disappearance a tragedy.
The events preceding Brooker’s accident remain unclear, as authorities are only aware of her actions immediately before she fell into Chester Creek. According to investigators, Brooker and her friends played near the creek during the heavy rainfall last week. At some point, Brooker reportedly stepped into mud and slipped, falling into the creek and being carried downstream. Although authorities believe Brooker likely died from the incident, search parties have begun using K-9 units to locate the missing and are actively engaged in a recovery effort.
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