Two adolescent brothers have been missing for more than a week in Northern California after going duck hunting in inclement weather on December 14.
Wesley Cornett, 17, and Andruw Cornett, 19, went hunting at Butte County’s Thermalito Afterbay, a vast body of water with 17 miles of shoreline and 4,300 surface acres of water.
“Approximately 250 people from 21 different organizations have been searching for Wesley and Andruw Cornett since last Saturday, the day the two brothers went missing while duck hunting at the Thermalito Afterbay,” the Butte County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week, along with a video detailing high-tech efforts to find the two missing teenagers in weed-covered water.
Search operations began on the same day the youths went missing, with SCSO deputies, detectives, the BCSO Aviation and Marine Unit, and BCSO Search and Rescue responding to “reports that one of two duck hunters had overturned on a kayak, and the other swam into the water to try and help.”
“Thousands of acres have been searched by boat, ground, and raft,” said Trevor Skaggs of BCSO Search and Rescue, in a video posted to the sheriff’s office Facebook page.
Jeff Eggleson of Big Valley Divers stated that “the most difficult thing” rescues must do is “get through the weeds” at the base of Thermalito Afterbay.
Heavy rain and wind slammed across Butte County on Saturday, leaving over 5,000 people without power, according to local news station Action News Now.
April Clark, the boys’ mother, set up a GoFundMe page titled “Help April Clark Find and Honor Her Sons,” in the hopes of raising funds for search operations and, eventually, funerals.
“My two lovely sons went hunting Saturday, December 14th, 2024. Wesley, 17, went out on the kayak and capsized, and his brother Andruw, 19, saw him in difficulty and contacted 911, saying there was no time to wait and he was rushing in to save his brother [sic],” Clark wrote in the GoFundMe campaign description. “Neither of my boys has been seen since Saturday. “Andruw is a hero in my eyes.”
Clark stated that the sheriff is now referring to the search for her sons as a “recovery” expedition.
“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,” Clark posted on Facebook. “This is hard for me to write as im beyond broken into so many pieces if you can please find it in your heart to donate and help our family find and lay my handsome two young boys to rest any amount of support will forever be blessed for our family.”