Body is found in search for two-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose car was swept away by biblical flash floods β while police hunt for her nine-month-old brother: Their mother, 32, found dead last week
The body of a child pulled from Pennsylvania’s Delaware River is believed to be missing two-year-old Matilda Shiels, officials have said.
The body was discovered around 5:30 p.m. Friday by Philadelphia police in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia.
At a news conference, officials said based on descriptions of clothing on the child’s body, it is strongly believed that it is Matilda Shiels.
Matilda’s mother, Katie Seely, 32, was found dead after a flash flood last week in Bucks County.
Seely’s oldest son, husband Jim and mother Dalia, 62, survived the flood last Saturday, but their other son, nine-month-old Conrad, is still missing.
Body of child recovered from Pennsylvania’s Delaware River believed to be missing two-year-old Matilda Shiels
The family, from Charleston, South Carolina, was visiting relatives in the area when the severe flooding hit
The search will continue, officials said. The family, from Charleston, South Carolina, was visiting relatives in the area when the severe flooding hit.
About 11 vehicles were on General Washington Memorial Boulevard near the river when they were caught in the downpour and three of them were swept away.
Eight people were rescued from cars and two from Houghs Creek. Their vehicles were swept away in the flash floods – and the father, Jim Sheils, managed to pull him and four-year-old Jack to safety.
Katie and her mother Dahlia were trying to get the two other children, Maddie and Conrad, to safety when they were all swept up in the intense deluge.
The grandmother Dahlia survived and was rushed to the hospital. But emergency services found mother Katie dead during their search.
Peter, Katie’s uncle and Dahlia’s brother, wrote on social media following a police update: “The grandmother is my sisterβ¦ this is so devastating, but your updates and all the supportive comments have been reassuring.”
Matilda has been missing since Saturday, when her family’s car was hit by a flash flood in Pennsylvania
Jim Sheils (pictured) managed to get him and his four-year-old Jack to safety
Emergency services found mother Katie dead during their search
Upper Makefield fire chief Tim Brewer said the storms dumped about six to seven inches of rain in an hour
Four other individuals were killed in the Bucks County flooding and searches continue
Four other individuals were killed in the Bucks County floods, Enzo De Piero, 78, and Linda De Piero, 74, Yuko Love, 64, and Susan Barnhart, 53.
Upper Makefield fire chief Tim Brewer said the storms dropped six to three inches of rain in an hour, adding, “In my 44 years, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I thought Hurricane Ida was the benchmark, but this is the benchmark,” Brewer said, referring to the deadly and extremely destructive Category 4 storm in 2021 that became the second most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the US after Hurricane Katrina.
According to the Department of Transportation, four state highways in Bucks County were closed due to the flooding.
A local resident, Nick Primola, told ABC6 that he saw upside-down cars being swept along the roads.
βI think it was just lucky timing because the people who were probably just 10 minutes early weren’t so lucky. They really didn’t have any warning and they were caught up in it,” he said.
βI’ve never seen anything so fast. I mean, this is an area where there are a lot of waterways, so people are used to flooding, but I think that’s why it snuck up on these people who were driving,” Primola added.