A 6-year-old boy who was pulled from a Gilbert canal Saturday evening has died, according to officials.
Gilbert police Sgt. William Balafas said Brenan Thomson was pronounced dead at Cardon Children’s Hospital 8:20 p.m. Saturday after he and his younger brother were pulled from the Roosevelt Water Conservation District Canal several hours earlier.
Thomson’s 5-year-old brother, Rylan was also transported to the Mesa hospital and is expected to be OK, according to Balafas.
Mike Connor, with the Gilbert Fire Department, said the two boys went for a bike ride and when they didn’t return for quite some time, their father went to look for them and called police for help around 5:30 p.m.
Their bicycles were found along the canal bank near Pecos and Recker roads and Gilbert firefighters were called to help with the search.
Mike Bunting, a neighbor who lives near the canal, tells ABC15 he heard the boys’ cries for help and spotted them in the water.
“I don’t think they could get out of there. I couldn’t get out of there,” said Bunting, who helped to pull Rylan from the water and also found Brenan’s body upstream. “It was just surreal.”
It is unknown exactly how long the brothers had been in the canal.
“Can’t stop thinking about it. I just feel for the family,” said Bunting’s wife, Denise.
Balafas said an investigation into the incident is ongoing, which is standard practice for drowning cases.
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