Girl, 3, drowns after falling off trail and being swept away by Calaveras River

A 3-year-old girl in the Calaveras County community of Valley Springs died Friday after falling down an embankment and into the Calaveras River, which swept her away, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Shortly before 11 a.m., the county dispatch center got the call that the little girl had fallen into the river while on a walk in the area of the River of Skulls Nature Trail, about a quarter mile below Hogan Dam.

The child was with her mother, who reportedly was carrying her infant son in a backpack, said sheriff’s Lt. Chris Hewitt. The area had rain on and off all day Friday, so the ground was slippery, said Hewitt, who walked the horse and hiking trail after the accident.

No one else was around to help, he said, and with the mother having her son on her back, there was no way for her to go into the water after her daughter.

Sheriff’s deputies and investigators, along with Hogan Rangers and firefighters from Calaveras Consolidated Fire and CalFire, responded to the scene and began a search.

Rangers found the child on the riverbank and began CPR. She was transported to Mark Twain Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from an apparent drowning.

In a news release about the drowning, the Sheriff’s Office reminded residents “that due to the large amounts of precipitation, there is a flood and high-water advisory for all creeks, tributaries and rivers throughout Calaveras County. Caution must be taken when near these sources of water to prevent injury or death to yourself or others.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Girl, 3, drowns after falling off trail and being swept away by Calaveras River."