8-year-old girl dies in California, 4-year-old boy missing after the children get swept away in a river

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An 8-year-old girl died and a 4-year-old boy was missing Sunday after the two children were swept away in a central California river swollen from rapidly melting mountain snows.

Deputies responded around 2 p.m. following a report of children missing in the Kings River near Pine Flat Dam, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

About an hour later, deputies found the body of the little girl, officials said. They did not immediately say how the child died.

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The Kings River is re-emerging and filling again due to the recent series of major rain and heavy snow melt in the Sierra Nevada on April 13, 2023, in California. The body of a little girl was found following a report of children going missing in the Kings River. Another 4-year-old boy remains missing.  (George Rose/Getty Images)

A search for the 4-year-old continued Sunday evening, ABC 30 TV reported.

Further north, authorities were investigating after a body was found Friday in Folsom Lake northeast of Sacramento. And two people remained missing after being swept away by the American River in recent weeks, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.

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Authorities have warned people to exercise caution along rivers where high water levels and stronger flows are creating dangerous conditions.

"Last winter’s heavy snowpack is melting down into our rivers, and the water is colder (45 degrees), stronger and higher — it will remain that way for at least the next month, possibly longer," the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement last week. "Be river-wise, this year IS different."