The body of a 13-year-old Montana boy named Ephraim who was reported missing Wednesday after falling into the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River about 30 miles north of the Wyoming border was found Thursday afternoon, Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillian told Cowboy State Daily.
No more details were available mid-afternoon Thursday, including the boy's last name.
Ephraim went into the water near Fromberg during a family outing and did not resurface.
“We’re still searching,” McQuillan had told Cowboy State Daily earlier Thursday.
The boy was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and pink dinosaur shorts.
A staff member at Fromberg School District said that Ephraim is a homeschooled middle-schooler, but that he’s been a familiar face at Fromberg school events over the years.
Amy Hayfield, public information officer for the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, told Cowboy State Daily the department was notified just after 4 p.m. Wednesday that the boy had fallen into the water.
“He was with some family recreating in the water,” Hayfield said. “It was a pleasant afternoon on the river when he went in and we have not been able to find him since.”
Very Polite
Fromberg resident Gloria DeMarco, a neighbor of Ephraim’s family, said that the boy and his sisters did some yard cleanup work at her home over the summer. Ephraim, she said, seemed to be the youngest of the kids but still took charge of phone calls and always waved when she passed.
“Not too many kids even want to be bothered by summer work, especially physical work,” DeMarco told Cowboy State Daily via Facebook Messenger. “They worked as a cheerful team, very polite, friendly, quiet, well behaved kids."
She said there are many "unseen places" along the part of the Clarks Fork River where Ephraim was last seen, and hopes the extensive search effort brings Ephraim home safely.
Initially, Carbon County Search and Rescue and several other local fire and EMS services were activated. The search later expanded with personnel from U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team in Billings and additional crews from Helena arriving Thursday.
“We’re asking people to continue to avoid the area,” Hayfield said earlier Thursday. “We plan to have people in the water as well as drones in the air and searchers on the banks and shores.”
Hayfield said crews concentrated the search around and below the area where Ephraim reportedly fell in the water, but were considering all possibilities.
Nearly a dozen agencies responded to the scene. Ephraim’s family also was present at the scene and in close contact with the sheriff.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.
Emma Jane Jackson can be reached at emma@cowboystatedaily.com.
