River boy heartbreak
Family anguish as body of six-year-old swept away on a fishing trip is found
THE family of the missing six-year-old boy swept away in a river were left devastated yesterday after his body was found.
Lucas Dobson was lost in a strong current after falling into the River Stour in Kent on Saturday.
It happened at the start of a family fishing trip when he tried to jump on to a boat from a jetty in Sandwich. His father Nathan and two other men dived into the water in an attempt to rescue him but were unable to do so.
Lucas had taken some swimming lessons at school, but his mother Kirsty Furze said he would have been ‘too scared to try to do anything’ to save himself.
Police confirmed a body found by search teams had been identified the child’s parents. Chief Inspector Mark Weller said: ‘This is deeply tragic and upsetting for all concerned and Lucas’s family are understandably devastated.’
More than 100 emergency services workers and 200 volunteers joined a massive search for Lucas, who lived in nearby Deal where he attended Warden House Primary School. His body was found in the river yesterday morning.
A bouquet of yellow roses was laid at the scene with note that said: ‘Lucas with love x. Even when we have to say goodbye, love is something that doesn’t go away.’
Miss Furze had led a vigil with family members and hundreds of
‘Too scared to try to do anything’
supporters in Deal on Monday night. On Facebook yesterday, she posted a touching photo of herself with her arm around her son during a family outing.
Describing how the accident happened, Lucas’s aunt Maciee Stanford, 18, said: ‘He was on the jetty and tried to step from there on to the boat but fell in between the jetty and the boat.
‘As soon as he fell the three adults jumped in after [him] but the current was too strong – he had already gone in the short amount of time. He couldn’t be found. The current was so strong the three men could barely swim in it.’
Yesterday she wrote on Facebook that the family were going through a ‘tough time’ after his body was found. A police spokesman said: ‘The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report is being prepared for the coroner.’
After Lucas’s body was identified yesterday, his uncle Lewis Tolman wrote on Facebook that support from around the world had ‘touched my heart’.
Mr Weller said: ‘I would like to echo Lucas’s family’s message of thanks to those who came out to help search for him.’