Two California teenagers have been missing since they went duck hunting early Saturday morning at Thermalito Afterbay in Butte County.
Butte County Sheriff's Search and Rescue and other first responders began searching the area after receiving a report that one of the boys was in a kayak that overturned, said Butte County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Megan McMann.
The other boy disappeared after swimming out to help him, McMann said.
Waiting on the water for the cadaver dogs to do their job so I can dive for the boys. @diverjuanheredia
Posted by Juan Heredia on Monday, December 16, 2024
The two boys are Andruw Cornett, 19, and his brother, Wesley Cornett, 17, said April Clark, who posted on Facebook that she is the boys' mother.
As of Monday, the teens were still missing, McMann said, although the sheriff's office and other agencies were still searching the area around Thermalito Afterbay and the water. The area is about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
Rescuers and volunteer divers search for two teenage duck hunters at Thermalito Afterbay in Butte County. The brothers have been missing since one overturned his kayak and the other swam out to help on Saturday morning, December 14, 2024.
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According to Clark, whose Facebook account says she lives in Olivehurst in Yuba County, Wesley Cornett kayaked out onto the water to get a duck. The water was too deep and the duck fell too far from shore for the family's 8-month-old Labrador retriever puppy to retrieve it, Clark posted on social media.
When Wesley Cornett's kayak capsized, his brother Andruw Cornett called 911. The operator said it would take some time for a unit to reach the wilderness location, so the 19-year-old swam out to help his brother. “He is a hero in my eyes,” Clark posted on Facebook.
Divers continued to search for signs of the brothers in the waters of Thermalito Afterbay, said Juan Heredia of Stockton, founder of the Angels Recovery Dive Team and a volunteer diver who assisted in the search Monday morning.
The boys' family still hopes they will be found alive.
“Please pray for my family…I'm just a mom begging for my boys to be found safe,” Clark said in a Facebook post accompanied by photos of the two teens.
Other agencies assisting in the search include marine units from the Placer and Yuba county sheriff's offices, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and search and rescue teams from Placer, Nevada and Yuba.
Jessica Skropanic is a reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, art, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Teenage brothers missing after duck hunting in California
