An infant has been found dead in the Trinity River in California, days after he was swept away following a car crash
Baby Oliver disappeared following the crash on Friday, May 1, which left his mother and father with minor to moderate injuries
Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to have factored into the crash, officials said
A 9-month-old baby boy has been found dead days after he was swept away in a California river following an early morning car crash.
Oliver Cox was “lost in the Trinity River” after the crash on Thursday, May 1, according to a news release from the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO).
CHP spokesperson Keith Krick told McClatchy News that the boy was with his 19-year-old mother and 21-year-old father early that morning when the Lexus sedan they were in went off State Route 299, “down an embankment, and into the Trinity River.”
Despite their attempts to save Oliver, Krick said the baby was ultimately “swept away.”
A diver from out of the area, who traveled to the Big Flat to assist with the search, “located Oliver deceased and submerged in the Trinity River” on Tuesday, May 6, according to the TCSO.
The baby “was removed from the river” and his family was notified. The TCSO thanked “all the search teams, who assisted in returning Oliver to his family.”
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Oliver,” authorities said in the news release.
Michelle Huskey, Oliver’s aunt, told NBC affiliate KNVN that the family was returning from a beach trip when the crash occurred.
“He was always playful, always happy to see everybody,” she explained. “He loved his mommy more than anything.”
More than $7,800 has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign started to support Oliver’s family following his disappearance and death.
Huskey, who organized the campaign, thanked Juan Heredia, the volunteer diver with Angels Recovery Dive Team who located Oliver, and his crew for helping in the search.
Officials with Trinity COSAR said in a previous news release that the terrain was “extremely challenging” to search, including portions that were “steep, rocky and in some areas impassable.”
Heredia said in a Facebook video that the car was “pushed by the current” several hundred feet downriver from where it entered the water.
Also in the video, Heredia showed the tire tracks left behind by the Lexus as it veered into the river, and said he found the back rear window of the vehicle had been broken.
Several agencies assisted with the search for Oliver, including Trinity County Search and Rescue (Trinity COSAR), the Shasta County Sheriff Dive Team, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), CalFire and the United States Coast Guard, according to the TCSO.
The mother and father involved in the crash, from Shasta Lake, were transported to Trinity General Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, ABC affiliate KRCR-TV reported.
Officials said neither drugs nor alcohol is believed to have factored into the crash, per KRCR-TV and The Sacramento Bee.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing.