The father of a missing autistic girl said that he leaped into a rushing river after she slipped on some rocks and fell into the water.
“I jumped in there. I jumped in there right after her, and I couldn’t get her. I tried my hardest. I tried,” Roberto Ortiz, struggling to maintain his composure, told KCRA.
Ortiz’s 5-year-old daughter, Matilda Ortiz, slipped and fell into the Stanislaus River on March 17.
Fire officials said that they responded around 5 p.m. with several boats to a call about nine people being stuck in the river.
“I jumped in there, I jumped in there right after her and I couldn’t get her. I tried my hardest, I tried,” said 5 year old girl’s father. Search continues. #KCRA pic.twitter.com/R8h0Xf038S
— Melinda Meza (@KCRAMelindaMeza) March 18, 2019
The first boat to arrive was able to recover one male adult out of a tree and get him to a waiting ambulance while the other individuals were able to get out of the river with help, or on their own, the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District said.
“Rescue crews searched for over 3+ hours until darkness made the search to dangerous to be on the water. Tragically, the young female juvenile was not found,” it added, noting the water “is moving very fast.”
The river was flowing in the area at a rate of more than 4,000 cubic feet per second Monday afternoon, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources obtained by KCRA.
Rescuers returned on Monday to look for the little girl but the search was suspended as night fell. It was due to start again on Tuesday.
Matilda’s aunt Melissa Ortiz said that the girl has autism.
“She loved the water,” Ortiz said. “She just wanted to put her feet in and she slipped.”
“Matilda, she doesn’t know danger. She climbs things. She runs,” Melissa Naranjo, another aunt, told ABC 10.
Due to the time elapsed since the girl vanished into the water, the local sheriff was calling it a search and recovery operation, reported Melinda Meza of KCRA late Monday.
Wishing the best to the family of this 5 year old little girl who fell in #Stanislaus River. Sheriff Dept. calling it a search and recovery. #KCRA pic.twitter.com/3V11vDtXH7
— Melinda Meza (@KCRAMelindaMeza) March 19, 2019
Family members asked anyone in the Knights Ferry area to help look for the girl.
“I just want to ask anybody that’s a parent that could imagine what I’m going through just to please help. Please help me find my child,” Roberto Ortiz told Fox 40. Family members said they’re staying until she’s found.
But deputies warned people not to enter the river.
“It’s dangerous,” said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Anthony Bejaran. “The water is running fast, the river levels are high and there’s debris in the water. We don’t want to create another situation where there’s an emergency and we have to divert.”
Debris and the fast current has made the river too dangerous for a dive team.
“The other issue that we look at is there is a lot of obstacles in the water,” Bejaran told ABC 10.
“With it moving so fast, there’s a lot of trees, a lot of rocks, [and] a lot of debris in the water.”
