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Last 2 Bodies of 4 Boys Swept Into River Recovered

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<i> Associated Press</i>

Rescue crews Friday discovered the bodies of two young brothers who were swept into the gushing Calaveras River, the last of the four victims who drowned when they stumbled into the chilly water.

Searchers, who had worked through the night, discovered one body shortly after 11 a.m. They found the second nearby about half an hour later, several hundred yards from where the boys entered the rain-swollen river Wednesday.

The bodies were identified as those of 9-year-old Herbert Pich and his 8-year-old brother, Danalee.

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Five boys--two sets of brothers--were swept into the chilly current Wednesday evening while holding hands and playing at the edge of the rain-swollen river near central Stockton. The youngsters apparently tried to wade to a small island in the middle of the stream, police said.

One child, 10-year-old Sitha Soun, was rescued immediately by a bystander, who saw the youngsters tumble into the water. But the onlooker was unable to reach the other four children, who disappeared.

Three hours later, police found the body of Sitha’s brother Vanna, 9, nearby. On Thursday morning, a police officer walking the bank half a mile downriver spotted the body of Charles Pich, 7, younger brother of the two boys whose bodies were found Friday.

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