Child's body recovered 18 hours after car went into Trinity River, police say

A young child's body was recovered Sunday morning after a car ended up in the Trinity River on Saturday evening, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.

Police said a dive team recovered the child's body from the river around 11:50 a.m. Sunday following rescue efforts Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Officers were dispatched at about 5:47 p.m. on Saturday to a report of a vehicle that had gone into the Trinity River at Beach Street and East Freeway. Call details revealed there was an infant and a woman in the car, according to police.

When officers arrived, they located the car and jumped into the water, according to a report from the FWPD.

An adult female was pulled from the water and first responders started life-saving procedures. She was transported to the nearest hospital in critical condition, police said.

It was unclear if the woman's child was inside the car.

The fire department dive teams continued the search into Saturday evening and pulled the vehicle from the water but found no other victims. The search effort was then postponed until Sunday morning.

"It's on social media first that someone had drove or went into the water at Trinity. As soon as I had seen it on Facebook, my mom was getting a knock on the door [from police], and it was like unreal because we had talk to her [the driver] a few hours before she had left my mom’s house, so it was just shock," said Jasmine Robinson, who said she is a younger sister to the driver of the car.

"She's in an induced coma, so basically the ventilators are fighting for her, so if you guys could, just pray for my sister, expressed Robinson.

The dive teams returned to the search alongside the Texas Game Warden on Sunday. The fire department also had its arson and bomb units flying drones to assist with the search, according to police.

"He's one year old. He'll be two in May, and so it's just like he can't really talk for himself, and it's just like, where is he or why," said Robinson in an interview with NBC 5 while search crews looked for her nephew.  "If you guys could say a prayer for him, his name is Jonas Allen, that would be great."

Just before noon, the child's body was recovered from the river. Initially, Fort Worth police said the child was an infant, but the child's exact age is unconfirmed. Police said the medical examiner is determining the cause of death and the child's identity.

Some family members who showed up at the Trinity River Sunday afternoon asked for privacy at this time.

Investigators are still working to determine what led to the car entering the Trinity River.

Robinson said she set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for her nephew's funeral.