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Family members and officials have released the name of the missing 10-year-old girl who is feared to have drowned Sunday morning in the Susquehanna River as Claue Schreffler-Algofera, a resident of South Williamsport. Borough Fire Chief Jeff Trammell confirmed the girl's identity late Monday morning, saying "The family has put it out on social media."
"It is a recovery at this point," Trammell said, adding that there has been no trace of the girl, a third-grade student in the South Williamsport Area School District, since 11 a.m. when she was swept away while playing in the river with two other children near a rocky pad along the bike path in the borough. The children were with a woman in an area west of Front and Winthrop Streets, and that the girl was floating away from shore when she was apparently pulled by the current, Trammell said he has been told.
It was confirmed late Monday afternoon that the woman, whose identity has not been released, is the mother of the missing girl, according to borough Acting Police Chief Devin Thompson. The mother went in the water and tried to save the child, but was carried over the dam by the current, Trammell said.
It was believed that Claue likely went over the dam as well, but investigators are not 100% certain that is the case. Her body could still be hung up under a log or other underwater objects above the dam, Thompson said.
The mother is the only one who definitely went over the dam, he said. She managed to get to shore and was helped out of the water by emergency personnel and passersby. She was rushed to UPMC Williamsport, but there was no word on her condition on Monday afternoon. Thompson said the last he heard was that she was recovering. The two other children who were in the water made it back to shore on their own and were taken by ambulances to the hospital for evaluation.
The search for Claue's body continued all day Monday and was expected to resume today, Thompson said, adding that a group of volunteers have come forward to assist with the search. Taking part in Monday's search were state police boats with special equipment to better identify underwater objects as well as members of the North Central Pennsylvania Dive Recovery and K9 Search Team from Elk County.