BENTONVILLE -- An 11-year-old boy who died after being swept into a storm drain Monday was pulled through 675 feet of underground pipe, a Fire Department official said Wednesday.
The boy's body was found after coming out of the pipe into a culvert and being washed farther down, said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Boydston.
Alexander "Cade" Law had just started fifth grade at Bentonville's Barker Middle School, according to a Go-FundMe.com page set up on Wednesday. Proceeds from the GoFundMe fundraiser will assist with final arrangements and all expenses related to Cade's death, the page states.
Chrissy Law, Cade's mother, shared the news Wednesday in a post on Facebook. Cade and his twin brother, Chandler, were racing paper boats in the rainwater, she wrote. The water wasn't deep at the time, but it started to rise, though it was nothing concerning to the two adults present, Law wrote.
"What they didn't know was that there was a uncovered sewer drain at the end of the field," Law's post stated. The water sucked Cade down the sewer drain, Law wrote.
"Chandler grabbed him and tried to pull him out but the water was too strong," the post stated. "Without hesitation, his best friend's Mom jumped in to try to save my baby. The water took her into the tube as well." The Fire Department was sent at 5:36 p.m. Monday on a call a boy was in a detention pond near the Walton Crossing Apartments, north of Southeast 28th Street. Crews rushing to the scene were notified a 47-year-old woman had been swept away too, Boydston said.
The woman was dragged 20 yards through the drainage system after entering the pipe. Manhole covers were pulled and she was found near the first manhole opening, Boydston said. The woman was found eight minutes after the Fire Department arrived on scene, and Cade was found about 20 minutes after help arrived, Boydston said.
Boydston said fire officials were told Tuesday the woman's condition was promising.
In Law's post on Wednesday, she said the woman "is currently on life support fighting for her life." The detention pond is privately owned and is designed to catch water runoff from the apartments, he said. The pond slopes downward, and the water rushes into a 24-inch culvert, Boydston said.