CFD AND LAKE COUNTY SIDE SCAN SONAR TEAM SPEACIAL DUTY CARMAN AND LAWNDALE DIVE RECOVERY FOR 8 YEAR OLD THAT FELL IN RIVER
Hope is fading of finding an 8-year-old boy who slipped into the Chicago River alive Sunday evening. It's turning into a recovery, rather than a rescue effort. Meanwhile, as CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports, the boy's father is criticizing the search effort.
Cashmere had jumped a fence and fallen into the river during a game of tag at the park, according to his 13-year-old brother Christian, who also said that he and Cashmere cannot swim. Christian dashed down to the river and started yelling for help. A passerby then jumped into the water and almost reached Cashmere, but the current swept the boy away, Christian has said.
The boy, Cashmere Castillo, fell into the water about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, near Foster Avenue and Pulaski Road.
On Sunday night, authorities held out little hope that he would be found alive and called off rescue efforts. Dive teams and rescue boats combed the water for hours, but they found no sign of the boy.
Still, crews planned to resume the search "at first light,'' according to an Albany Park District police lieutenant.
The boy's father is still holding out hope that his son will be found. He believes the search should be expanded. Divers have not been able to locate the child, but they have retrieved an article of his clothing, pulled from the river just Monday morning.
At daybreak, the search resumed in the Chicago River near Foster and Pulaski. That's where Cashmere Castillo, 8, slipped in last evening after he jumped a fence while searching for rocks.
The second-grader had followed his older brother, Christian, to a neighborhood playground in the Northwest Side neighborhood. Witnesses said he jumped the fence along the river while looking for rocks and tumbled in.
His brother came running from the nearby basketball field and ran alongside the bank shouting out to Cashmere. At least two people on the scene tried to jump in and save the boy, but couldn't hold on to his body.
"Someone came. I told him, 'Can you please help?' He took off his jacket. He came in, he had him, but the current was too strong," Christian Castillo, 13, said.
According to rescue teams, following last week's heavy rains, the waters in the river were especially high and fast-moving. Divers said they could barely see in front of them and encountered all sorts of debris in the water.
"We encountered swift water, we encountered zero visibility, a lot of debris floating in the river," Chicago Fire Department Cmdr Ron Dornecker said.
Family members confirmed that a sweater pulled from the river Monday morning is Cashmere's.
"They're here to rescue my kid, but I don't think they're doing such a good job right now," said father Willy Castillo.
The tension is clearly getting to the boy's devastated parents. His mother collapsed while watching the search, while his father is critical of the rescue efforts.
"I want the search to expand to down the river because right now they're just doing where he dropped off yesterday," he said. "With the current flow, he could probably pass the dam already."
"We are working as hard as we can to find their son," said Deputy Chief John Escalante, from Area 5 Police.
The Chicago Police Marine Unit is currently using sonar equipment underneath the murky water. It's only about 5 foot deep, but it's a fast moving current. They say they're looking for a body and will continue to move the equipment upstream.
Family and friends stand nearby, ready and willing to help.
"He's so friendly to people," said friend Edwin Galino. "I'm so sad to hear about this. Hopefully, I can volunteer to look for him in the river."
"I was hoping that my kid got dragged under some branches and that he was just hanging in there somewhere," said his father. "I'm just hoping for the best right now."
Even if the boy somehow did survive drowning in the current, the temperature of the water is only 51 degrees, a chilling reality the family does not want to accept.
Cashmere is a second-grade honor student at Volta Elementary School, and Christian said his brother was a straight-A student. They also have a 1-year-old brother, Carter
Read MoreCashmere had jumped a fence and fallen into the river during a game of tag at the park, according to his 13-year-old brother Christian, who also said that he and Cashmere cannot swim. Christian dashed down to the river and started yelling for help. A passerby then jumped into the water and almost reached Cashmere, but the current swept the boy away, Christian has said.
The boy, Cashmere Castillo, fell into the water about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, near Foster Avenue and Pulaski Road.
On Sunday night, authorities held out little hope that he would be found alive and called off rescue efforts. Dive teams and rescue boats combed the water for hours, but they found no sign of the boy.
Still, crews planned to resume the search "at first light,'' according to an Albany Park District police lieutenant.
The boy's father is still holding out hope that his son will be found. He believes the search should be expanded. Divers have not been able to locate the child, but they have retrieved an article of his clothing, pulled from the river just Monday morning.
At daybreak, the search resumed in the Chicago River near Foster and Pulaski. That's where Cashmere Castillo, 8, slipped in last evening after he jumped a fence while searching for rocks.
The second-grader had followed his older brother, Christian, to a neighborhood playground in the Northwest Side neighborhood. Witnesses said he jumped the fence along the river while looking for rocks and tumbled in.
His brother came running from the nearby basketball field and ran alongside the bank shouting out to Cashmere. At least two people on the scene tried to jump in and save the boy, but couldn't hold on to his body.
"Someone came. I told him, 'Can you please help?' He took off his jacket. He came in, he had him, but the current was too strong," Christian Castillo, 13, said.
According to rescue teams, following last week's heavy rains, the waters in the river were especially high and fast-moving. Divers said they could barely see in front of them and encountered all sorts of debris in the water.
"We encountered swift water, we encountered zero visibility, a lot of debris floating in the river," Chicago Fire Department Cmdr Ron Dornecker said.
Family members confirmed that a sweater pulled from the river Monday morning is Cashmere's.
"They're here to rescue my kid, but I don't think they're doing such a good job right now," said father Willy Castillo.
The tension is clearly getting to the boy's devastated parents. His mother collapsed while watching the search, while his father is critical of the rescue efforts.
"I want the search to expand to down the river because right now they're just doing where he dropped off yesterday," he said. "With the current flow, he could probably pass the dam already."
"We are working as hard as we can to find their son," said Deputy Chief John Escalante, from Area 5 Police.
The Chicago Police Marine Unit is currently using sonar equipment underneath the murky water. It's only about 5 foot deep, but it's a fast moving current. They say they're looking for a body and will continue to move the equipment upstream.
Family and friends stand nearby, ready and willing to help.
"He's so friendly to people," said friend Edwin Galino. "I'm so sad to hear about this. Hopefully, I can volunteer to look for him in the river."
"I was hoping that my kid got dragged under some branches and that he was just hanging in there somewhere," said his father. "I'm just hoping for the best right now."
Even if the boy somehow did survive drowning in the current, the temperature of the water is only 51 degrees, a chilling reality the family does not want to accept.
Cashmere is a second-grade honor student at Volta Elementary School, and Christian said his brother was a straight-A student. They also have a 1-year-old brother, Carter
