Rescue Crews Recover Body of 10-Year-Old Girl Swept Away by Texas Floodwaters
Devah Woods, a third-grade student at Brenham Elementary School,
Around 4 p.m., the sisters encountered rapidly rising waters from a creek, according to Melinda Gordon, a spokesperson for the city.
Authorities are uncertain whether Devah slipped and fell or was pulled in by the current, but her sister ran to seek help.
A man who witnessed the incident and a Brenham police officer both made attempts to rescue Devah, but were unable to reach her in the swift water, according to Gordon.
The man managed to grab her backpack, but she was carried away. Both the man and the officer were treated by paramedics and released.
Related Stories
4/30/2025
4/21/2025
Rescue efforts began immediately, with teams searching through the night. The Brenham Fire Department, working with more than a dozen supporting agencies, deployed drones equipped with thermal imaging and search dogs in hopes of locating the missing girl.
However, as heavy thunderstorms moved into the area, the operation was scaled back for safety reasons, the department said in a
Early Tuesday, four swift water rescue teams resumed the search. Around 10:45 a.m., a dive team from the Texas Department of Public Safety located Devah's body 1.2 miles from where she was last seen, according to Brenham Police Lt. Steven Eilert.
'We have taken care of her as much as we could. Our hearts go out to (her) family. It is a difficult thing,' Eilert said during a news conference. Devah's mother attended the news conference but did not speak.
The tragedy has shaken the Brenham community, which has a population of about 19,000 and is located roughly 70 miles northwest of Houston.
Mayor Atwood Kenjura described the city as a 'very, very special community, very tight-knit Christian community.'
He said, 'The response from everyone was overwhelming. We don't like the outcome that happened.'
At Brenham Elementary School, support services are being offered to students and staff.
The Brenham Independent School District said in a
The region is still recovering from last week's storms, which caused widespread flooding and travel disruptions across southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, according to the National Weather Service.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
4 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Women-Only Spa Seeks Re-Hearing in Ninth Circuit Over Admission of Transgender-Identifying Men
SAN FRANCISCO—The Olympus Spa, a women-only Korean-style spa in Washington State, which was forced via legal means to allow male customers who identify as women, is seeking re-hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The case is centered on a state law that bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Many of the services provided at the spa require nudity, and all the onsite staff are female. Allowing a person with male body parts to partake of the services would violate the Christian beliefs of the spa owners, they said.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Leader of 'cult-like' UK Christian group guilty of sexually abusing women
By Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -The leader of a "cult-like" Christian group once backed by the Church of England has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation, after a jury returned their final verdicts on Thursday. Chris Brain, 68, led the Nine O'Clock Service, an evangelical church movement based in Sheffield, northern England, in the 1980s and 1990s. The group's nightclub-style services, which were held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, were aimed at young people, featured a live band and attracted hundreds of people at its peak. But, prosecutors said, Brain controlled members of the congregation, cutting them off from family and friends, and abused his position to sexually assault "a staggering number of women". Brain also had a "homebase team" of young women who looked after him, his wife and daughter at their house in Sheffield, who were dubbed "the lycra nuns", prosecutor Tim Clark said. He was charged with 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape relating to 13 women between 1981 and 1995. He denied the charges and said any sexual contact was consensual. After a trial at the Inner London Crown Court, Brain was convicted on Wednesday of 17 charges of indecent assault relating to nine women. He was acquitted of a further 15 counts. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining four counts of indecent assault and the alleged rape, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said on Thursday, adding it would "carefully consider" a retrial. 'FAILING OF THE CHURCH' The Nine O'Clock Service had the blessing of the Church of England. Prosecutors said in 1990 that the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect, George Carey, had met Brain to discuss his methods. Brain's ordination was fast-tracked and the Nine O'Clock Service spent "large sums of money" to obtain the outfit worn by actor Robert De Niro for the 1986 film 'The Mission' for the ceremony, prosecutors said. But Brain resigned and left the church days before the broadcast of a 1995 BBC documentary, which accused him of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Carey said he was "crushed and let down" when the allegations were made public. In his evidence, Brain said he received massages from members of the Nine O'Clock Service, which he said occasionally moved towards sexual activity. He also denied controlling or manipulating members of the congregation. "What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred," Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox said in a statement. "Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures I offer an unreserved apology." (Additional reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Sandra Maler)
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
College baseball player dies falling off motorized cart while interning at Cincinnati Open
An 'incredible' college baseball player has died in a freak accident when he fell off a motorized cart while interning at the Cincinnati Open. Joshua Darst, a senior at Cornerstone University, Michigan, was working as an intern at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Ohio when he fell off the cart near the loading dock area at around 11 p.m. Monday, WLWT reported. The athlete, who attended the Grand Rapids-based private evangelical Christian university on a baseball scholarship, was rushed to the West Chester Hospital but died of his injuries, according to police. Advertisement His long-time pastor described him as an 'incredible young man.' 3 Cincinnati Open intern Joshua Darst has died in a tragic accident at the tournament. Courtesy Darst Family 'I met Josh when we first came here about 14 and a half years ago. He came up and stuck his little hand out, he was about seven years old, introduced himself,' said Brian McManus, pastor at Tri-County Baptist Church in West Chester, a northern suburb of Cincinnati. Advertisement 'He was the very first person I ever baptized here,' McManus added, saying that he was 'excited for where God was going to take him next' when he learned he was going to Cornerstone. 'Being exposed to that suddenness of death coming into people's life is not new, but it's new when it's that close, that personal,' McManus told WCPO in a separate interview. 3 The baseball athlete fell off a motorized cart. 'I had just read a letter from somebody that he had worked with at the Open for only three weeks, and the profound impact that he had made on their life in just three weeks. Josh has an empathetic streak in his life that is about a mile wide,' he said. Advertisement 'It was a heartbreak — it's been a heartbreak to everybody in our church family,' McManus said. Darst's college, where he was set to start his senior year, shared an emotional tribute on Facebook. 3 Monday's accident is still under investigation. Getty Images 'Our community is deeply saddened by the loss of Joshua Darst, a senior and cherished member of our baseball team, who tragically passed away this week,' the tribute read. Advertisement 'Join us as we lift up his family, friends, and teammates in prayer during this difficult time. The university will honor Joshua during our first chapel service of the academic year when students return to campus next week.' Darst's parents plan to honor their son by setting up a baseball scholarship fund at Cornerstone University, McManus said. 'This loss is deeply felt by our entire organization. Our hearts, thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family, friends and all who knew and loved him,' the Cincinnati Open said in a statement provided to WLWT. Police say Monday's accident is still under investigation.
