Camden Boy Drowns Off Pyne Poynt

—Courier-Post Photo by Bob Bartosz DRAGGING OPERATIONS go on as Gary Auxer, 10, of 517 N. 9th st., directs Rescue Squad 1's boat to the spot in Delaware River where he last saw Eugene Thornton, 9, of 539 Birch st. At the oars is Winfield Myers and handling the grappling hooks is John Kolessar, both of Engine Company 6. Camden Boy Drowns Off Pyne Poynt Mystery shrouds the drowning Thursday of Eugene Thornton, 9. of 539 Birch st. Shortly before 6 p.m., Eugene fell or was pushed into the Delaware River, according to eyewitness accounts, as he and an unidentified companion were playing on the pilings between N. 7th and N. 8th sts. Det. Nicholas Pavlak of the juvenile bureau said police are looking for a companion who was with the drowned boy. Boys Push Each Other Pavlak said one account he received from eyewitnesses is that three boys were "horsing around" and pushing each other on the brink of the pilings. He said the water at this point is between 4 and 6 feet deep. Pavlak said one boy, according to eyewitnesses, pushed Thornton and he fell into the water. He said it was "horseplay which resulted in tragedy." Pavlak said police will continue their efforts today to locate the boy who did the pushing. Grappling hooks operated by the boat team of James Smith of Rescue Squad 1 and John Kolessar of Engine Company 6 hauled Eugene's lifeless form to the surface at 7:20 p.m. Men from both units, under the direction of Captain Albert Weller, had been dragging the river between Pyne Poynt and Petty's Island for more than an hour before the body was recovered. Identified By Mother Young Thornton was pronounced dead on arrival at Cooper Hospital shortly after 7:30 p.m. by Dr. Gerald E. Vanston. The victim's identity remained undetermined until about 9 Continued on Page 2—Col. 6 Drown (Continued From Page One) o'clock, when Thornton's mother, Emma, accompanied by her 10-year-old son, Albert, tearfully identified her son's body at the hospital. Mrs. Thornton told Pavlak that Eugene, Albert and her eight-year-old daughter, Diane had gone to the playgrounds around Pyne Poynt Junior High School at about 5 o'clock. Albert told the detective that he and his sister had remained on the swings, while Eugene and another boy had gone off to play at the river's edge. Worker Reports Incident Shortly before 6 p.m., William Passwater of 3225 Mount Ephraim ave., a WCAM employe, reported the drowning, according to Ptl. Peter Yecco and James Anderson. Passwater told police that a Negro boy had run screaming to the radio station's Pyne Poynt transmitter station, yelling that someone was drowning. Gary Auxer, 10, of 517 N. 9th st., told Yecco and Anderson that he and some friends had witnessed the incident. Gary said he had gone to water's edge to warn Eugene and his friend. When he reached the scene, Auxer said, he heard Eugene's friend, a Negro boy about 12, challenging Eugene to go in the water. "It ain't deep. It's low tide," the older boy said, according to Gary. Then, when it seemed Eugene was not going to jump in the river, the older boy pushed him in, Gary said. Youth Frightened After the older boy reached for Eugene in the water and failed, he became frightened and ran off, Auxer told police. Gary, a fifth-grader at Sewell School, said he tried to grab Eugene several times unsuccessfully. A friend of Auxer's, John Barry Kelley, 9. of 642 Erie st., a third grader at Holy Name School, said he grabbed Eugene's hand but the drowning boy let go. Some 200 spectators lined the Delaware's banks to watch the dragging operations. Besides his mother; his brother, Albert, and sister, Diane, Eugene, a student at Cooper School, is survived by his father, Albert, a Pennsylvania Railroad employe; two brothers, Jacob, 5, and Carl, 2; and two sisters, Geraldine, 5, and Cynthia, 1.