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Body of teen boy swept away in Juarez floods has been found by search and rescue teams

UPDATE: The Juarez Civil Patrol says the body of Rafael Antonio Rodríguez Ibarra was found by search and rescue team Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

The director of the Juarez Civil Patrol, Sergio Rodriguez, says the search and rescue protocols were activated on Friday at 9:30 p.m. when they received reports of Ibarra and another teen being swept by currents caused by the floods along Paseo de la Victoria and Tapioca Streets. The other teen was found Friday night alive.

Rodriguez says special equipment, including drones and small boats, were used in the search of a dam in the area where Ibarra was reported missing.

Ibarra would have turned 16 today.

JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) - The Juarez Civil Patrol's Search and Rescue team continue their efforts to find a 16-year-old boy that was reported swept away by the current after heavy rains flooded streets in Juarez.

Channel 44, our news partners in Juarez, say Rafael Antonio Rodríguez Ibarra and another teen were swept away along Tapioca Street Friday night. The second teen was eventually found alive and well.

The search was originally postponed until Saturday morning and teams began their search in a dam near Tapioca Street which is near where he goes to school at CONALEP.

"About 7 or 7:40 pm Friday, which is when they get out of school, my mom who is his grandmother came to pick him up, she waited for him for awhile where she always waits for him and he never showed up," Ibarra's aunt said. "My mom came back home, and later we found out that he was just not coming back. So we came back here and through social posts we found out what happened, that he was taken by the flooding waters."

A backpack was found along with other debris during the search efforts Saturday, but so far no indication of where Ibarra might be.

He was last seen wearing a white polo shirt, light grey pants, school or dress shoes, and had a thin silver chain.

Saturday his family asked the community to join search efforts.

Article Topic Follows: On the Border

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