6-year-old boy who went missing while hiking with family drowned in river, authorities say

GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — The 6-year-old boy who went missing while hiking with his parents near the Big Four Ice Caves drowned in the Stillaguamish River, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday.

The boy was identified as Aidan McClanahan, of Mill Creek, Wash.

The medical examiner said the cause of death was freshwater drowning and the manner of death was accidental.

The boy was reported missing from the hiking trails near the Big Four Ice Caves by family around 6 p.m. Sunday, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.


The sheriff's office mobilized a search and rescue operation that included a helicopter deployment.  After more than two hours of searching, the child's body was found.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said Monday the boy's body was recovered from the South Fork of the Stillaguamish river Sunday, about a mile downstream from a footbridge of a hiking trail that crosses the river.