The State - News from Sept. 2, 1988

An 11-year-old boy drowned in the California Aqueduct after he tried to reach a friend who had jumped into the canal to rescue a dog. Divers found the body of Ronnie Cornett nine hours after he toppled into a 10-foot aqueduct in Pinon Hills. The boy was walking beside the waterway about 9:30 a.m. with his 5-year-old brother, Ricky, their two dogs, and his friend, Tony Dickey, 13. Officials said Tony went into the waterway to rescue one of the dogs that fell into the aqueduct, but when he tried to pull himself out, his hands kept slipping on the sides of the canal. Ronnie extended his arm to the older boy, leaned over too far and fell into the aqueduct.