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Young duck hunters missing after kayak flips, California sheriff says. ‘Need my boys’

Multiple agencies continue to search the lake and surrounding area, sheriff’s officials said.
Multiple agencies continue to search the lake and surrounding area, sheriff’s officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto

A search continues for two duck hunters who vanished at a Northern California lake, authorities reported.

The hunters went missing from Thermalito Afterbay on Saturday, Dec. 14, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said in a Dec. 16 news release.

Wesley Cornett, 17, went out on the lake in a kayak to retrieve a duck when the boat capsized, mom April Clark told The Record Searchlight.

Andruw Cornett, 19, called 911 and then swam out to try to rescue his brother, telling dispatchers there wasn’t time to wait, Clark told KRCR. Neither has been seen since.

“I need them lord they have so much life left to live I’m on my hands and knees begging lord I need my boys my world,” Clark wrote on Facebook.

Multiple agencies continue to search the lake and surrounding area, sheriff’s officials said.

Ther­mal­i­to After­bay is a diver­sion pool popular with boaters and paddlers down­stream of Lake Oroville, Explore Butte County said on its website.

The lake is about a 75-mile drive north from Sacramento.

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This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Young duck hunters missing after kayak flips, California sheriff says. ‘Need my boys’."

DS
Don Sweeney
The Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 35 years. He is a service reporter based at The Sacramento Bee.
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