By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 03:01:32 | Updated at 2025-01-03 23:39:49
2 days ago
The body of one of the California brothers who vanished while duck hunting more than two weeks ago has been recovered, according to police.
Andruw and Wesley Cornett, 19 and 17, were last seen near the Thermalito Afterbay in Butte County on the morning of December 14.
The Butte County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) confirmed on Tuesday night that a body recovered earlier in the day had been identified as Andruw. Wesley has yet to be found.
BCSO spokesperson Megan McMann told SFGate that a sheriff's office pilot made the grim discovery while flying over the area.
On Monday, before a body was found, the BCSO revealed that their once extensive search and rescue efforts have shifted into search and recovery ones.
McMann told SFGate the efforts 'shifted to a continuous limited search for Andruw and Wesley Cornett on December 23, 2024. This involves surface search methods, including aircraft, drones, boats, on-shore vehicles and K9s.'
Wesley went out on the water in a kayak to retrieve a duck he hunted, but the boat capsized. Andruw jumped in the water to try and save his brother after calling 911.
Andruw made the call at 8:33 am and the first deputy arrived 14 minutes later. By 8:55 am Cal Fire’s water rescue unit had arrived.
Andruw and Wesley Cornett, 19 and 17, were last seen near the Thermalito Afterbay in Butte County on the morning of December 14
A sheriff's office pilot identified spotted Andruw's body on Tuesday morning
Search teams have been scouring the water for more than two weeks since they vanished
Search teams have been scouring the water for more than two weeks since they vanished
A deputy spotted the kayak and potentially a victim at 9:02 am and responders went out on the water and searching the area just seven minutes later.
Shortly after, the kayak and other hunting equipment were spotted - but the teens were nowhere to be found.
For more than a week after they disappeared, diligent search efforts persisted.
The BCSO wrote on December 21: 'Approximately 250 people from 21 different organizations have been searching for Wesley and Andruw Cornett since last Saturday, the day the two brothers went missing while duck hunting at the Thermalito Afterbay.'
But the search efforts, conducted by deputies, detectives, the BCSO Aviation and Marine Unit, and BCSO Search and Rescue, were challenging.
In a video posted on December 21, documenting these search efforts, Jeff Eggleson of Big Valley Divers said: 'The most difficult thing we're having to get through the weeds.
'We got the diver on the bottom, he's in about 15 feet of water and the weeds vary from about three feet to about 10 feet of weeds.
'So the hardest part is just making our way through those.'
Dive and search teams have been intensely search for the brothers since they went missing, but after about a week, authorities declared they were performing search and recovery efforts
The brother's devastated mother said she 'will have to also plan to lay my two boys to rest'
He added that those weeds were hindering the effectiveness of Sound Navigation and Ranging (Sonar) technology that could help locate the teens.
Eggleson highlighted another obstacle - the water's low visibility.
'Visibility is very low so it ranges from about six inches to about four, five, six feet.'
As law enforcement agencies began to dwindle down their search efforts, the teens' parents are asked for volunteers to step up and continue the search.
Member of nonprofit search team Angels Recovery Jared Foster said in a December 22 Facebook video alongside the brother's parents: 'Here we are, going into the holidays and we're still looking for their two sons.
'Volunteer divers are gonna keep going, so if you are in this area or close by and you have a boat with Sonar, camera equipment, if you're a diver, we need more people on the water.'
'This is a freak accident that my family and I are trying to wrap our heads around,' Clark wrote.
April Clark, the teens' mother, created a GoFundMe page when her son's went missing.
April Clark said the 'freak accident' that caused her sons to go missing has shocked her entire family
The weeds in the area being searched vary from about three feet to about 10 feet
She wrote on December 21: 'The Sheriff is saying this is now a search and recovery so i will have to also plan to lay my two boys to rest.
'This is a freak accident that my family and I are trying to wrap our heads around.'
Clark has received more than $42,000 in donations.
A candlelit vigil was hosted in the teens' honor on Saturday, with several hundred people in attendance.
