Rescue effort ended after child swept away by Pennsylvania creek

Law enforcement officials said Sunday afternoon that rescue efforts for a 6-year-old girl who was swept away in Pennsylvania's Chester Creek on Saturday night have been abandoned.

The effort that is ongoing, officials said, is now considered a recovery.

“This is an extremely sad day for the city of Chester,” said Chester Mayor Stefan Roots on Sunday. “This is a community that will wrap its arms around those are hurting or who are in need.”

At 8 a.m. on Sunday, crews resumed a search for a girl who fell into the creek at about 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Officials suspended the search after 10 p.m. on Saturday after searching for the girl for several hours.

On Sunday, officials said that while Fire Department crews had suspended the search, the Coast Guard had crews looking for the girl throughout the night.

But, they noted, the survivability estimates for someone in the water was only about three hours.

As of 2 p.m., officials said, the effort would continue as a recovery, instead of a rescue.

“This is a tough time for our city,” said Roots.

Police officials have not yet provided the girl’s identity, but on Sunday morning, Kimberly Richardson, who said she was the girl’s grandmother, told NBC Philadelphia that the family was already bracing for the worst.

“I’m sad. My emotions are off the hinge,” she said. “I haven’t had sleep. I can’t eat. The only thing I’m thinking about is finding her.”

Officials have told NBC Philadelphia that the incident began after three girls were playing in a park by Chester Creek when two of them slipped on mud and fell into the water.

The area of the creek where the girl went missing is near 7th Street and the Avenue of the States in Chester, Delaware County, according to Tim Boyce, director of Delaware County’s Department of Emergency Services.

One of those girls was able to get herself out, but the 6-year-old was not able to get back to shore, officials said.

The girl’s aunt, Tyeesha Reynolds, told NBC Philadelphia that her daughter tried holding on to the young girl’s jacket but wasn’t able to keep the girl from slipping away into the rushing water.

NBC Philadelphia has also been told that several of the girl’s family members also jumped in the water and started searching on their own before crews arrived.