Body of boy lost in swollen creek found

CLAREMONT, Calif. - A body found floating behind a dam Thursday was that of an 11-year-old boy who was swept away when he fell into a raging mountain creek swollen with runoff from powerful storms last month, authorities said.

A helicopter crew found the body of Marcelo Bautista, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Tania Plunkett said.

The Huntington Park boy fell into San Antonio Creek below Mount Baldy on Jan. 16.

The storms had passed and many people were going into the mountains northeast of Los Angeles for recreation. Marcelo fell into the same creek in which a woman and her 7-year-old son died earlier that week.

The water carried the boy toward San Antonio Dam, where the body was found after the Army Corps of Engineers lowered the water level by about 16 feet.

Marcelo fell as he was skipping back and forth over the creek with another boy.

His father grabbed him but lost his grip, and the boy was carried off, authorities said. The father and other boy pulled themselves out of the frigid water.

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