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Bodies of two juveniles recovered from White River in Martin County

Officers search the White River in Martin County for the bodies of two juveniles Saturday.
Officers search the White River in Martin County for the bodies of two juveniles Saturday.

The bodies of two teenage boys who were swept away over the weekend while swimming in a southern Indiana river have been recovered, authorities said Monday.

State conservation officers found the bodies of the 16-year-old boys Sunday in the East Fork of the White River in Martin County just west of the Lawrence County line, said Cpl. Joe Haywood of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement division.

The teens had vanished Saturday evening while swimming in an area of the river about 25 miles southwest of Bloomington. Witnesses said the boys were last seen being carried downstream by the river's current and then going under the water's surface.

Conservation officers called to the scene about 6:30 p.m. Saturday began searches that included the use of airboats, underwater sonar, dragging equipment and divers.

One of the boys' bodies was found Sunday a few hundred yards downstream from where the teens were last seen, and the other body was found about a mile downstream, Haywood said.

Autopsies were planned early this week, and the boys' deaths remain under investigation, he said.

Patrick Beane spent three decades as a journalist at The Herald-Times in Bloomington before joining the staff at WFIU/WTIU News. He began his career at the newspaper after graduating from Indiana University in 1987 and was the sports editor from 2010-2020. His duties at the paper included writing, copy editing, page design and managing the sports department.