Multiple agencies in Massachusetts are still working to recover a 6-year-old boy who disappeared in the Merrimack River in Amesbury.State police said the search mission to find Mas DeChhat resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday after crews searched throughout the day on Saturday. The Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Unit had 12 divers, along with four boat operators from the department’s Marine Unit, searching the river with help from Boston Fire Department divers.Other agencies participating in the search include the Amesbury and Newburyport Fire and Police departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, and police officers and firefighters from surrounding communities.Mas’ mother, 29-year-old Boua DeChhat, of Lowell, drowned after entering the swift current of the river Thursday night in an attempt to save her son and her 7-year-old daughter.”We’ve seen several tragedies on the river, but not usually where a whole family is affected. It is a sad situation, and we had a lot of hope (Thursday) night. A lot of agencies – state agencies, local agencies – put a lot of effort into trying to find this 6-year-old,” said Newburyport fire Chief Christopher LeClaire.State police said Boua DeChhat, her 31-year-old husband and their children were fishing and swimming on Deer Island, a recreational area accessible by road that juts into the Merrimack River in Amesbury, near the Newburyport line.At about 7 p.m., the 31-year-old father returned to the family’s car in the island’s small parking lot to retrieve some gear. At around the same time, Mas, who was on land at the river’s edge, reached for a stick in the water and fell into the river.Mas’ sister tried to grab him as he began to be pulled away by the swift current and she, too, fell into the river and began to be pulled away by the current.State police said Boua DeChhat, who did not know how to swim, then entered the river in an effort to save her children. All three of them were carried upstream in a westerly direction toward the nearby Whittier Bridge.By this time, the father had returned to the river’s edge and saw his daughter and wife in the water. He entered the river in an effort to reach them, but he himself did not know how to swim and began to struggle himself. State police said he made it back toward shore and grabbed a rock, managing to exit the river. He was transported to Seabrook Hospital in New Hampshire to be treated for hypothermia/exposure.State police said the current carried Boua DeChhat and her daughter west under the Whittier Bridge and out into the river to the west of the bridge, where a fishing boat operator saw the mother and daughter struggling in the water and pulled them onto his boat. Mas DeChhat was not seen in the water when his mother and sister were pulled out.Mark Bajko, a bystander, said he and a police officer tried to administer CPR to Boua DeChhat after she was pulled ashore.”I’m going as hard as I can. I’ve already called 911 on my way over and I’m doing CPR and finally, a police officer taps me and says, ‘Hey let me take over.’ And he takes over and I stand up and in that moment and that second, a little girl stopped crying and yells, ‘My brother is still in the water,'” Bajko said.Boua DeChhat and her daughter were both transported to Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport. Boua DeChhat was pronounced dead at the hospital and her daughter was treated and released.The search for Mas DeChhat began immediately and continued late into Thursday night. The search resumed Friday morning and continued until the early evening with negative results, leading to a suspension in the effort.”It is always a difficult decision to suspend a search and rescue case, and even more painful when children are involved,” Capt. Kailie Benson with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector in Boston said Friday evening. “Considering the extensive search efforts by the Coast Guard and the numerous state and local agencies, along with on-scene conditions, I have made the decision to suspend the search for the missing 6-year-old boy. Our prayers are with the boy and mother’s family and friends during this time.”The divers searching for Mas DeChhat are using side-scan sonar, a device deployed from the side of a boat that uses sound waves to map and detect objects and anomalies in the water column and on the bottom. If an object is detected, divers descend upon it to investigate. Divers holding tow bars are also being pulled through the water by boats.State police investigators assigned to the Essex District Attorney’s Office, as they are in all cases of unnatural deaths in Essex County, are leading the death investigation.A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family’s funeral expenses.
Multiple agencies in Massachusetts are still working to recover a 6-year-old boy who disappeared in the Merrimack River in Amesbury.
State police said the search mission to find Mas DeChhat resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday after crews searched throughout the day on Saturday. The Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Unit had 12 divers, along with four boat operators from the department’s Marine Unit, searching the river with help from Boston Fire Department divers.
Other agencies participating in the search include the Amesbury and Newburyport Fire and Police departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, and police officers and firefighters from surrounding communities.
Mas’ mother, 29-year-old Boua DeChhat, of Lowell, drowned after entering the swift current of the river Thursday night in an attempt to save her son and her 7-year-old daughter.
“We’ve seen several tragedies on the river, but not usually where a whole family is affected. It is a sad situation, and we had a lot of hope (Thursday) night. A lot of agencies – state agencies, local agencies – put a lot of effort into trying to find this 6-year-old,” said Newburyport fire Chief Christopher LeClaire.
State police said Boua DeChhat, her 31-year-old husband and their children were fishing and swimming on Deer Island, a recreational area accessible by road that juts into the Merrimack River in Amesbury, near the Newburyport line.
At about 7 p.m., the 31-year-old father returned to the family’s car in the island’s small parking lot to retrieve some gear. At around the same time, Mas, who was on land at the river’s edge, reached for a stick in the water and fell into the river.
Mas’ sister tried to grab him as he began to be pulled away by the swift current and she, too, fell into the river and began to be pulled away by the current.
State police said Boua DeChhat, who did not know how to swim, then entered the river in an effort to save her children. All three of them were carried upstream in a westerly direction toward the nearby Whittier Bridge.
By this time, the father had returned to the river’s edge and saw his daughter and wife in the water. He entered the river in an effort to reach them, but he himself did not know how to swim and began to struggle himself. State police said he made it back toward shore and grabbed a rock, managing to exit the river. He was transported to Seabrook Hospital in New Hampshire to be treated for hypothermia/exposure.
State police said the current carried Boua DeChhat and her daughter west under the Whittier Bridge and out into the river to the west of the bridge, where a fishing boat operator saw the mother and daughter struggling in the water and pulled them onto his boat. Mas DeChhat was not seen in the water when his mother and sister were pulled out.
Mark Bajko, a bystander, said he and a police officer tried to administer CPR to Boua DeChhat after she was pulled ashore.
“I’m going as hard as I can. I’ve already called 911 on my way over and I’m doing CPR and finally, a police officer taps me and says, ‘Hey let me take over.’ And he takes over and I stand up and in that moment and that second, a little girl stopped crying and yells, ‘My brother is still in the water,'” Bajko said.
Boua DeChhat and her daughter were both transported to Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport. Boua DeChhat was pronounced dead at the hospital and her daughter was treated and released.
The search for Mas DeChhat began immediately and continued late into Thursday night. The search resumed Friday morning and continued until the early evening with negative results, leading to a suspension in the effort.
“It is always a difficult decision to suspend a search and rescue case, and even more painful when children are involved,” Capt. Kailie Benson with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector in Boston said Friday evening. “Considering the extensive search efforts by the Coast Guard and the numerous state and local agencies, along with on-scene conditions, I have made the decision to suspend the search for the missing 6-year-old boy. Our prayers are with the boy and mother’s family and friends during this time.”
The divers searching for Mas DeChhat are using side-scan sonar, a device deployed from the side of a boat that uses sound waves to map and detect objects and anomalies in the water column and on the bottom. If an object is detected, divers descend upon it to investigate. Divers holding tow bars are also being pulled through the water by boats.
State police investigators assigned to the Essex District Attorney’s Office, as they are in all cases of unnatural deaths in Essex County, are leading the death investigation.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family’s funeral expenses.
