Carpentersville boy drowns in Fox River

June 9, 2006 (Last Updated: 4:40:16 PM) (WLS) -- A 12-year-old Carpentersville boy drowned while playing in the Fox River. Pedro Solis Morales and his friend fell off an inflatable raft Thursday evening.

The other boy made it back to shore.

"I was with him right there and then he fell and started screaming for help. I just ran in there, but I couldn't reach him. I told him I was going to call for help," Rodrigo Rodriguez, witness.

Divers arrived within minutes to search for the child in the murky waters of the river. Pedro's body was found after a three-hour search.

"About 5 minutes till 10:00, the divers making a last swipe near the last location. They did recover the 12-year-old," said Chief John Schuldt, Carpentersville Fire Department.

Pedro was going to enter sixth-grade next fall. He is being remembered as a friendly boy who liked to ride his bike.

"Pedro was very nice and sweet to us," said Samantha Lukacek, friend.

"I've lost a sister, a husband, and it's just -- thank God I have never lost a child. I can only imagine the heartbreak," said Barb Krause, neighborhood resident.

Investigators are reminding people who enjoy the Fox River that it can be dangerous.

"People need to understand when they come from neighboring communities, they don't know the river. We work here as firefighters, we don't know the river. What I mean by that is, the bottom's always changing -- there's holes, there's soft spots, there's sand," said Schuldt.

Officials said the boys were a few hundred feet from the Carpentersville dam, so it had nothing to do with the accident and in no way hindered the search.

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