{"id":5075,"date":"2026-07-22T09:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T09:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5075"},"modified":"2026-07-22T09:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T09:06:28","slug":"chilling-audio-captures-frantic-heartbreaking-search-for-5-people-including-two-sets-of-parents-who-died-in-mass-drowning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5075","title":{"rendered":"Chilling audio captures frantic heartbreaking search for 5 people, including two sets of parents, who died in mass drowning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Chilling police audio captured rescuers\u2019 frantic heart-wrenching search for five people, including two sets of parents, who died in a mass drowning in an Ohio river \u2013 leaving two young children orphans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey had a 5-year-old walking out on along the road. \u2026 There\u2019s someone in the water there,\u201d a Delaware County dispatcher can be heard saying on the radio around 9:25 p.m. Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moments earlier, a passing motorist had called 911 after spotting the frantic little boy begging for help on a busy street near the Scioto River in the Columbus suburb of Powell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The terrified child told the driver that his \u201cfamily was in the river,\u201d Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said at a news conference Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What began as a carefree summer evening of fishing from the shoreline turned tragic when one adult in the group went in the water to swim and began struggling, prompting two other adults to jump in to try to save the person, Balzer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When those two adults also began struggling, another two adults rushed into the river in a desperate rescue attempt, the sheriff explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

None of the five made it back to shore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Responding deputies quickly found the two children at the scene \u2013 and soon realized the horrifying scale of the tragedy, according to the dispatch audio obtained by The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bodies are in there. There are two young juveniles [on shore]\u2013 a young male and a young female. They don\u2019t have any parents,\u201d an officer said over the radio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another responder devastatingly added: \u201cWe have some clothes and some shoes out in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u201clanguage barrier\u201d between cops and the children \u2013 both under 10 years old \u2013 initially made it difficult to determine how many people needed rescuing, according to the dispatch audio and Balzer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChief, it sounds like we had eight people in the water \u2013 we got five out; three confirmed missing,\u201d an officer said over the radio. \u201cWe are going to need a boat, we got some lighting coming down here. We\u2019ll need some additional rescuers and suits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minutes later, rescuers requested a Spanish-speaker be sent to the scene to communicate further with the children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got two victims in the raft at this time, we\u2019re trying to resuscitate,\u201d a rescuer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got two bodies total coming out right now. We\u2019re not exactly sure how many are left in the water. We\u2019re still looking for at least one,\u201d he continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Those two initial victims \u2013 later identified as women \u2013 were rushed to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As crews continued searching the waters into the night, responders found more clothing scattered in the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBoat 91 has a fourth shoe that is different from any previous found,\u201d a deputy can be heard saying over the radio at one point. \u201cFourth shoe doesn\u2019t match the others.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The effort eventually transitioned from a rescue mission to a recovery operation late Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bodies of the three remaining victims \u2014 all men \u2014 were recovered from the river Monday afternoon, when officials confirmed that two sets of parents were among the five killed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two surviving children \u2013 at least one of whom does not speak fluent English \u2013 were placed in the care of family services, Balzer said at the Monday news conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked how the kids were coping, the sheriff responded: \u201cI think they\u2019re OK, but they always say that, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing is, in Delaware County \u2026 we have protocols in place to take care of these folks, whether it\u2019s peer support teams or different programs to be able to counsel them afterwards, too,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No boat was at the scene. It was unclear if alcohol played a factor in the tragedy, the sheriff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The circumstances surrounding the drownings are still under investigation, and authorities are withholding the victims\u2019 identities until all of their families have been notified.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Scioto River was running unusually high and fast Sunday, flowing at a rate of 350 cubic feet per second \u2013 more than double the average rate, according to data from a nearby US Geological Survey gauge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Balzer urged anyone entering the water to understand their swimming abilities and take proper safety precautions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow your skill level before you get in the water. Are you a confident swimmer?\u201d he said. \u201cMake sure you have other people around in case something goes wrong to notify someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chilling police audio captured rescuers’ frantic heart-wrenching search for five people, including two sets of parents, who died in a mass drowning in an Ohio river \u2013 leaving two young children orphans.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nChilling audio captures frantic heartbreaking search for 5 people, including two sets of parents, who died in mass drowning - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5075\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chilling audio captures frantic heartbreaking search for 5 people, including two sets of parents, who died in mass drowning - 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