Search for boy missing in Pennypack Creek to resume today

BRANDON and Anthony Boyle met up with a couple buddies yesterday and headed about a mile from their Rhawnhurst home to play by Pennypack Creek. The rainstorms of the last several days had broken, and the sun peeked through the clouds.

But the boys' trip to the park turned horrific, authorities said, when Brandon, 13, jumped into the churning water.

"My son jumped in before the waterfall and he was riding the current, then never surfaced after the waterfall," Brandon's father, James Boyle, said at his home last night, recounting the events as told by his younger son, 11-year-old Anthony.

Panicked when his big brother never resurfaced, Anthony jumped into the creek in an attempt to find him, Boyle said.

Anthony, whom Boyle said had suffered a minor injury when he jumped into the water, couldn't find his brother and swam back to the banks.

A massive search for Brandon commenced at the creek shortly before 2 p.m., police said, with firefighters and police dive teams searching the rocky waters for the boy. Police Capt. Joe Zaffino, commander of the Northeast's 7th District, said the water was so rough from the recent storms that one of the divers was caught in the current and had to be rescued during the search mission.

"People just don't get how dangerous it is," Zaffino said.

In his six years as captain, at least three people have drowned there, he said. Two weeks ago, his officers had to throw life preservers to two 13-year-old boys who got stuck in the creek near where Brandon went missing.

Boyle said his sons had swam in the creek in the past and that Brandon is a strong swimmer. The oldest of six siblings, Brandon had just graduated from Farrell Elementary School and was getting ready to start at Northeast High.

"All the kids in the neighborhood play down there," Boyle said.

By 6 p.m., authorities suspended the recovery mission at the creek for the night. They will resume the search today.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Christine Chambers, 42, walked by the waterfall where Brandon disappeared with her stepsons and warned her boys, ages 9 and 11, to stay away from the water as they walked toward the edge to get a peek at the falls.

Chambers said she and her husband don't let their children near the creek by themselves.

"Kids are gonna be kids. They do stupid stuff," she said. "It's sad. It's very sad."

Blog: PhillyConfidential.com