Search ends for missing 6-year-old Li'najah Brooker who was swept away in Chester Creek
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) — The search for Li'najah Brooker, the 6-year-old girl from Chester, Delaware County, who fell into the rain-swollen creek Saturday has ended. Crews were back in the water Tuesday morning but later in the afternoon called off their recovery efforts after saying they'd exhausted all options.
"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family," Detective El'Lan Morgan, of Chester police, said.
Morgan said notifying Li'najah's father and aunt was heartbreaking.
"Anything short of bringing 'Naynay' home is just a… looks as a failure on our part for the family, but we have exhausted all measures," Morgan said.
Earlier, crews spent Tuesday searching in Chester Creek and the Delaware River. For the first time, canines were brought in to assist.
The nonprofit Pennsylvania Wilderness Search and Rescue brought 10 volunteers to take the canines across a half-mile area along the shore and in boats.
"We don't want family members to have to look for their own loved ones," John Norris, of the Pennsylvania Wilderness Search and Rescue, said. "We don't want the emergent volunteers from the public to be the ones doing that work either."
At one point, law enforcement said a canine may have picked up a scent in the Chester Creek area across from the playground. It's the same area where officials say the 6-year-old was playing Saturday before making her way creekside and falling in.
They used an underwater drone and sent in a diver to look more, but sadly, couldn't locate her. The boats on the Delaware River using special sonar equipment also couldn't locate Li'najah.
"At this time, we've exhausted every method we have to search for her and, unfortunately, we have not been able to locate her," Fire Commissioner John-Paul Shirley said.
With heavy hearts, officials are urging families to be careful.
"Swift moving water is dangerous and it's not to be underestimated," Shirley said. "And that goes for adults and children."
Chester fire officials said Chester Creek can be as deep as 30 feet in some areas.