Boy, 12, dies in canoe accident on Elk River

A 12-year-old Kansas boy drowned Saturday in a canoeing accident on the Elk River three miles west of Pineville in Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that Michael W. Cox of Pleasanton, Kansas, was paddling in swift current when his canoe was washed into a logjam, capsizing the craft. The youth was pinned underwater for about 30 minutes.

Sgt. Jason Pace said the boy was canoeing with his grandfather and siblings when the accident happened.

“He was pinned under the canoe due to the force of the water,” Pace said Monday. “It took several first responders to get the canoe off him at the logjam.”

The youth was declared dead at Freeman Hospital in Neosho.

According to the patrol, the boy was not wearing a life jacket.

The drowning was the second canoe-related fatality in a week in Missouri.

On May 10, Angela M. Fire of Hollister died after becoming trapped in tree roots on the James River when the canoe she and her husband were paddling struck a tree and overturned.

The accident occurred 1.5 miles east of Galena. Fire was wearing a life jacket, according to the patrol.