Police: Teen Swept Away in Flood Waters in Pittman Wash | News

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Henderson police searched Wednesday for a teen who reportedly fell into the storm-swollen Pittman Wash near Stephanie Street and Sunset Road.

The Henderson Police Department received a call at 11:41 a.m. indicating a person had fallen into the wash near Sunset Road and Stephanie Street. Henderson police and fire units responded to the wash but could not locate the missing teen who is described as a 17-year-old. The Metro Police Air Unit also aided in the search.

Mike Harms was visiting from southern California and had his cell phone ready.

"It was about twice as high as it is now and I was just filming the water, just to show my kids of how crazy it is," said Harms.

His cell phone was still rolling and all of a sudden Harms says he saw the boy struggling in the water waving his arms. Mike immediately got back in his car and raced down as far as he could to see if he could help, but the water was just too fast, and the boy floated by a second time.

"I was speechless at first, because it was so crazy, because you saw how violent the water was. I couldn't even imagine how he got into the water. It was so crazy," adds Harms.

The wash was full of rushing water from the torrential rain that drenched the area. "I saw all the things in the water, all the obstacles he's got to face that way. It's terrible," Harms said.

Police and firefighters did all they could to locate the boy, but as the hours went by, hope started to fade and the search was suspended.

"Every time it rains or something, don't let your little kids or any kids at all go to any place that is dangerous. My son told me they were playing behind my house, and then he went to get something to eat. By the time he got back, one of his friends told him his friend fell, and he put his foot in the water and washed out," said Henderson resident Carlos Strand.

Strand says his son was playing with the teen that was swept away. He says the boys hopped a cinder block wall to watch the raging water, but how the teen fell in is still a mystery.

The search resumes Thursday.