Body of missing duck hunter who attempted to save his brother has been found in Northern California waterway

Melody Gutierrez, Los Angeles Times on Jan 1, 2025

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Authorities recovered the body of a missing teen at Thermalito Afterbay in Northern California, where he went missing with his brother while duck hunting more than two weeks ago.

A Butte County Sheriff's Office pilot spotted the body of Andruw Cornett, 19, in the original search area of the large reservoir near Oroville around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. His body was recovered and his family has been notified, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Cornett had been missing since Dec. 14 when he dialed 911 to report that his brother's kayak had flipped in the cold and murky waterway. Dispatchers advised Cornett to remain in his kayak "multiple times," but he insisted on diving into the water to attempt to save his younger brother, Wesley Cornett, 17, who was seen swimming north from the kayak. The younger sibling has not been located.

The pilot who spotted Andruw Cornett's body on Tuesday was forced to land after a drone was seen flying extremely close to the helicopter, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

"The search will continue by air, but the use of drones in the search area prevents our pilots from flying," the statement said.

The sheriff's office said thousands of acres have been searched by boat, on foot and by raft since the brothers went missing. Following the call for help at 8:33 a.m. on Dec. 14, a Butte County sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene within 15 minutes and was joined by Cal Fire Water Rescue, the department said.

The deputy reported seeing a kayak and possibly one of the brothers around 9 a.m. About 20 minutes later, a rescue boat found a kayak, paddles and waders. Other items were later found, including pants, a wallet and a phone belonging to the brothers.

Rescue and recovery efforts have been challenging due to weeds reaching 10 feet tall and stirred-up silt that clouds visibility past a few inches. The waterway has a depth of 3 to 30 feet.

In a post on GoFundMe, April Clark, the boys' mother, called Andruw a hero for trying to save his brother.

"This is a freak accident that my family and I are trying to wrap our heads around and we also have 4 girls at home who we still need to care for," she wrote.