The body of a 2-year-old girl was found in Pennsylvania Friday, five days after she was swept away in dangerous floodwaters with her mother and baby brother, who is still missing.
Matilda “Mattie” Sheils’ body was recovered in the Delaware River around 5 p.m., after anonymous callers alerted police that there was a possible body in the water near the Philadelphia Waste Disposal Plant.
Sheils was found near a debris pile by the waste plant — 32 miles away from where she was first swept up in the floodwater on July 16.
Her mother Katie Seley, 32, died trying to get her children out of the vehicle before being caught up with Mattie and 9-month-old Conrad Sheils, who police continue to search for.
Sheils’ brother Jack, 4, her father Jim and maternal grandmother Dahlia survived the deadly waters.
The South Carolina family had been visiting relatives in Pennsylvania and got caught in the floodwaters on their way to a barbeque, Fire Chief Tim Brewer said.
“This has been an extremely intense and emotional time for the family, for our first responders, and for the community and I know all our hearts are broken this evening,” the Upper Makefield Township Police Department said in a press release.
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“Although Mattie was found 32 miles away from where we lost her, she has never been closer to all of our hearts than she is now.”
The little girl’s body has been returned to family.
“We are grateful that our little Mattie has been brought home to us. We are still praying for the return of Conrad. Thank you all, again, for your compassion and your kindness. We are humbled,” the Sheils’ family said in a statement released by police.
Sheil’s autopsy will be performed Saturday by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner.
Four others drowned in the Pennsylvania flooding.
“With these five deaths, this is a mass casualty incident the likes of which we have not seen before,” the local police department wrote on Facebook. “This has been unbelievably devastating to all the families involved, all of our first responders, and to our community as a whole.”
Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, was walloped by about 7 inches of rain in 45 minutes last Saturday.
