Rio Grande Sweeps Away Boy, Mother

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (AP) – Mexican officials are searching for a woman and her 10-year-old son who were swept away by the Rio Grande.

Officials say Jesus Perez was pulling his son on an inner tube across the Rio Grande in the town of Jimenez early Wednesday so they could sneak into Texas. But the boy when he slipped off and was carried away by the current.

Officials say Lucia Mendez jumped in to save her son and was also carried away.

The Mexican government migrant rescue group called Grupo Beta says Perez was trying to return to Florida, where he has worked for a year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)