Rescue Efforts Turn To Recovery In Search For Missing 6-Year-Old Boy

NEWBURYPORT, MA — First responders are now focusing on recovery instead of rescue in the search for the missing six-year-old boy in Merrimack River, officials said Friday afternoon.

A family of six — two parents and four children — were believed to have been swimming or fishing at Deer Island when the current swept away two children and their mother, multiple reports say.

Local authorities were alerted around 7 p.m., but a nearby fishing boat was the first to arrive on the scene.The captain helped to pull a seven-year-old girl and the mother onto the boat. The girl was conscious and alert, but her mother was unresponsive. The woman was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital but did not survive.

The woman has not yet been identified while officials alert the next of kin.

A six-year-old boy is still missing. Local dive teams are using a range of tools to conduct a thorough search of the river and will work into Saturday if needed.