Official: Girl drowned trying to save mom in Houston river

Authorities believe a 12-year-old girl drowned as she tried to save her mother who was struggling in a river near Houston that has become more dangerous since Hurricane Harvey.

Harris County Sheriff’s Capt. Don Stanton says the girl disappeared Sunday after apparently stepping into a 10-foot-deep hole on the bottom of the San Jacinto River. A man tried to find her but couldn’t swim down that far. Marine division sheriff’s deputies eventually retrieved the girl’s body. Her name hasn’t been released.

The mother got into trouble near a beach at Magnolia Gardens Park. Beach signs warn that no lifeguard is on duty. The mom made it out safely.

Stanton says Hurricane Harvey-related floods changed the river last summer, carving new deep areas right next to the reconfigured shoreline.