Determined Father Finds Body of Son Two Weeks After He Vanished in River
- Share via
BAKERSFIELD — The body of a Los Angeles teen-ager who disappeared while swimming in the Kern River two weeks ago was discovered early Saturday by his father who had driven from Los Angeles in an effort to find the boy.
The body of Wilson Chavez, 17, was pulled from the fast-moving river by a Kern County search-and-rescue team after the boy’s father, Guillermo Chavez, 42, had combed the rugged bank for the fourth time in two weeks.
As he was about to give up the search, Chavez glimpsed the body of his only son in a snarl of cottonwood trees about half a mile downriver from where the teen-ager disappeared during an outing with friends. A fisherman who heard Chavez, his wife and several relatives screaming and crying, called authorities.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
