Searchers on Thursday recovered the body of a Northeast boy who disappeared three days earlier after jumping into a notorious swimming hole in the rain-swollen Pennypack Creek.
A civilian found the youth at about 6:30 a.m. along the creek near the 2700 block of Holme Ave., said a Philadelphia police spokeswoman. Authorities did not identify the victim by name, but relatives said he was Brandon Boyle, 13, the oldest of six children of James and Kim Boyle of Arnold Street in Bell’s Corner.
On Thursday night, about 200 people, including family and friends of the victim, gathered near the spot of Boyle’s disappearance for a memorial vigil.
Boyle was last seen alive at about 1:45 p.m. Monday as the creek’s current swept him toward a dam and waterfall just west of the Roosevelt Boulevard overpass, authorities said. In the aftermath of heavy rainstorms that day, the water’s current was unusually strong.
Boyle and his 11-year-old brother, Anthony, had both jumped into the water from a footbridge that spans the creek, which is typically about five feet deep at the location but was much deeper due to storm flooding. According to Capt. Joe Zaffino of the 7th Police District, the spot is a notorious swimming hole for youths and young adults, although swimming is prohibited in the creek.
On June 3, police rescued a boy, 16, and girl, 13, from the water in the same location. In July 2010, a 20-year-old man disappeared underwater in the same area and his body was found two days later downstream.
