Naylor boy drowns in Black River; river is higher than normal

A Naylor, Missouri, boy drowned Thursday afternoon while swimming in Black River.

The boy, 9, was attempting to swim to an island across the river channel when he began to struggle at about 4:40 p.m., according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports.

The boy reportedly went under and did not resurface.

"When we got there, we immediately started the search and after about two hours of searching, we located the victim," said Cpl. Richie Ayers with the patrol's Marine Division.

The boy, he said, was found not far from the location where he went under.

"It just took a little longer than we hoped for because of a large lip in the bottom of the river," Ayers explained.

The boy was pronounced dead at 9 p.m. by Butler County Coroner Andy Moore, who did not identify the youth.

The incident, according to Ayers, happened on the north side of U.S. 67 on the south bank of Black River.

The river just north of there goes around a bend and turns into a deeper pool, said Ayers.

"It's something they had dug; one of those holes where they dug for gravel prior," he said.

Black River, Ayers said, is probably several feet higher than normal right now.

"What should have been 16 feet in the deepest part, is now 25," Ayers said.

The boy, Ayers said, was one of two children with an adult who were there.

"They tried to get him some flotation devices, but it didn't work," Ayers explained. "When he got into (the river) it was on the edge of the current and the eddy of the big pool."

Ayers said personal-flotation devices are "strongly encouraged ... especially under higher water conditions."