FARRELL (KDKA) – The days-long search for a missing 12-year-old ended in tragedy Saturday morning when his body was pulled from the Shenango River in Mercer County.

Divers and rescuers recovered the body of 12-year-old Mark Goodrich, Jr. of Sharon from the Shenango River after 8 a.m.

Crews from Ohio and Pennsylvania had been searching the area since Thursday after hearing reports that three boys were swimming in the river.

“Resumed the search first thing this morning, and he was located in the river about 8:30 this morning,” said Chief Mark Menster, of the Sharon Police Department.

Police narrowed their search in the Shenango River after video cameras from a nearby business spotted three boys on an abandoned railroad bridge.

Mark Goodrich, Sr. claims his son had no business swimming with the boys. He thinks one of them pushed his son in the water.

“I’m just saying, I think they were horsing around,” said Goodrich, the boy’s father. “Mark didn’t want to jump in the water off this viaduct because it’s a real high thing, and they pushed him in the water and they just left him there.”

Police are hoping autopsy results will provide some answers.

“He’s going to be en-route to Erie County for an autopsy, that will answer a lot of our questions,” said Chief Menster. “We’re also looking for anybody that may have been down there at the time this happened, any other kids or anything. We’d like to speak to them so we can learn what happened.”

This is the second time in two years a young person has drowned in the Shenango River.

“It’s a dangerous place… the river,” said Chief Menster. “It’s got a lot of debris in it, underwater log jams and brush piles. It’s just a hazardous place to swim.”

Meanwhile, the family is making funeral preparations for the boy while they continue to wait for answers.

RELATED LINKS
More Mercer County News
More Local News