Officials say 11-year-old boy drowns in Missouri’s Big River

CEDAR HILL, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri State Highway Patrol says an 11-year-old boy drowned over the weekend while swimming in the Big River in Jefferson County.

Officials say the boy was with his family Sunday for a birthday celebration near the river and was wearing a life jacket. Investigators say the boy was trying to swim downstream when he became hung up on a log in the middle of the river and went under.

A sheriff’s deputy called to the scene later spotted the child on the opposite bank receiving aid from a woman and swam across the river to administer CPR, but the child could not be revived.

Police did not immediately release the boy’s name.