Boy Missing in River Is Identified

D.C. police today identified the 11-year-old boy who fell in the Potomac River south of the Chain Bridge yesterday as Jorge Castro, from Winchester, Va. Castro is believed to have drowned.

The search for his body continued today with specialized water emergency crews and search boats, said Lt. Paul Niepling of the department's Harbor Unit. The FBI is also assisting with its underwater cameras, Niepling added.

Officials said that about 5 p.m. Castro slipped off rocks into the Potomac River about 75 yards south of the bridge while on a fishing expedition with his father.

Authorities said the father tried to reach the child after he slipped into the water but subsequently the father required rescue himself.

The current in that area is regarded as deceptively swift, and the water level and rate of flow have risen in recent days because of rain upstream.

In addition to the D.C. police and fire departments, the U.S. Park Police and the Coast Guard were involved in the search last night and again this morning.

The section of the river downstream from Chain Bridge has been the scene of many accidental drownings.

Authorities said that many people who flock to the riverbanks during warm weather have not recognized the subsurface hazards, particularly the current flowing beneath an often-calm surface.

Several factors, including warning signs in Spanish and Vietnamese, appear to have sharply curtailed the death rate in recent years.

Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman, said police warn against entering the river below the bridge and urge people at water's edge to use personal flotation devices.

Yesterday, gauges showed water levels at Little Falls, above the bridge, near the point where recreation is regarded as hazardous.