5 children - including 4 siblings - drowned in the Meramec River

They were miles from the perceived dangers of their inner-city St. Louis neighborhood, dozens of children on a church picnic along the Meramec River.

They played in the water along a small beach surrounded by oak trees and dirt bluffs. It was an afternoon respite from the familiar asphalt streets.

But the scene Sunday night at Castlewood State Park turned chaotic as one child slipped beneath the water's tranquil surface and others rushed to help.

Five children, including four siblings, drowned. At least four of the victims did not know how to swim.

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A sign outside the St. Louis Dream Center proclaims it "a healing place for a hurting world," and hundreds gathered there Tuesday evening to begin the healing, with the help of their faith.

Strength came from what some might think an unlikely source, as the mother of four of the five children who drowned Sunday at a Dream Center outing declared her faith and offered her support to the church.

"I just want to tell you guys to let it go," said Edris Moore, addressing her children's friends and other teary-eyed members of the church who knew them. "My kids are in heaven. Rejoice, and one day, if you have Christ in your heart and are right with God, you'll see them again. I know I'll see my kids again."

The Dream Center, an effort of televangelist Joyce Meyer's ministry in a St. Louis neighborhood near Fairground Park, took dozens of children on an outing to Castlewood State Park Sunday. Three of Moore's sons and a daughter - Bryant Barnes, 10, Ryan Mason, 14, Damon Johnson, 17, and Dana Johnson, 13 - drowned in the Meramec River, along with another teen, Deandra Sherman, 16.


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People remain haunted by drowningsThe cries for help cut along the riverbank and shattered the summer calm.

Joseph Miller, 16, was slipping under the water. He yelled and fought the Meramec River as it pulled him farther from shore.

A former lifeguard heard the shouts. So did a woman walking with her husband on a nearby trail. Terrell Craig, 15, thought his friend was playing around. Then Terrell's cousin said Joseph couldn't swim. The smiles they'd worn while eating barbecue and playing football during a celebratory church outing disappeared.

"A perfect day," as Terrell described it, was over.

Within two minutes, five children, including four siblings, would slip under the water and drown.

Three witnesses provided detailed accounts, corroborated by authorities, of what happened Sunday at Castlewood State Park. Each tried to change the tragic course of that day. They remain haunted by what they saw, what they did and what seemed impossible to do.

"I still don't understand how it happened," Terrell said. "I don't think it was meant to be understood."


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Inviting Meramec hides perils


"And many believe that a drowning person will make noise and thrash around," McCune said. "That's not what happens. Drowning is very quick and very silent."


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"I'm a good swimmer," said Robert's mother, Annie Mae Moore. "I learned in grade school. I'm teaching my kids - for fun and for safety."

Robert is learning, but it's a skill that many other African-American children don't seem to be picking up at the same rate as whites, with fatal consequences.

The deaths of five black youths in the Meramec River on Sunday are the latest examples of a grim statistic: African-American children ages 5 to 19 drown at twice the rate of whites the same age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two reasons for the disparity are lack of accessibility to and interest in swimming, said Dr. Julie Gilchrist, a medical epidemiologist with the disease agency's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

At least four of the children who died Sunday didn't know how to swim, according to their mother.

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There are simple ways to protect children on rivers and lakes.

Post lifeguards.

Provide enough supervision.

Wear lifejackets.

Five children drowned Sunday while on a church outing on the Meramec River. On Monday, local summer camp operators and a national leader in water safety called for churches and youth groups to use the same safety standards they employ.

"At our camp, these are non-negotiable rules," said Mary Rogers, executive director of Sherwood Forest Camp in Lesterville, Mo.

The message is repeated again and again to kids and counselors:

"Even God wears a life jacket. Even God swims with a lifeguard," she said.



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How awful. My prayers are with the friends and family.... It is amazing the faith that the mother has. 4 children gone at once, though. I can't even imagine.

Site of the drownings:




Courtesy of stltoday.com


This isn't far from where I live

The victims were four boys, Ryan Mason, 14; Damon Johnson, 17; Bryant Barnes, 10; Deandra Sherman, 16; and a 13-year-old girl, Dana Johnson. The children drowned when they were caught in the Meramec River's current

A sixth child, Joseph Miller, who also became caught in the river's current, survived.


More: http://ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=100101

Drowning can be very silent. My BIL drowned almost a year ago. And he was an excellent swimmer.

I feel so sorry for the mother who lost four of her children. I can't even imagine the pain.

I can't swim I always think I can but I cannot.It is such an embarrassment.Every kid could do this but I can't...I have stilled tried and thought I could do it but I can't.

CP, I can't swim either. I can doggy paddle a short way but not even close to enough to save myself. I am terrified of water; have been since a friend of the family basically threw me into the deep end of their pool when I was 3. My mom also can't swim and she remembers the horror of watching my orange bathing suit on the bottom of the pool. I remember it vividly, not being able to breathe and seeing a blur of people above my head. Now I get an instant panic attack as soon as the water hits higher than my stomach. I would love to learn but I am embarrassed to take classes along with a bunch of 6 year olds. A local swim club near me offers "private" lessons but that means you take lessons in the same pool while others are swimming for fun and not during another lesson time.
I agree that I cannot imagine losing even 1 of my kids. I am a Christian but my faith is not that strong. I am in awe of her.