Tragedy stuck on Christmas Day when the body of a 7-year-old boy, Paul Luther Bowen, was pulled from a river in Martin County , Kentucky. EKB News reported that the child’s great-uncle, Mitchell Bowen, received a call about him being missing.
Not long after that, Mitchell stated that he found his hat in the river near the boy’s home in Hode, prompting him to believe that Paul may have fallen into the Tug River.
It was reported that just before 11:30 a.m. on Monday, a couple told police that they saw a child’s body floating in the Tug River as they were driving on the West Virginia side of the river.
When the Warfield Fire Department, Kermit Fire Department, Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Tug River, they immediately began searching for the child.
The child’s body was found in the river around 2 p.m. It was alleged that two firefighters made several attempts to revive the boy, but they were unsuccessful.
Paramedics transported Paul to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
He was a student at Warfield Elementary School, where he was well known by staff and students.
Mitchell said, “It’s amazing that a seven-year-old has touched so many lives.”
“For a 7-year-old to have that kind of an impact on a community is overwhelming.” https://t.co/FGXPga8AiL
— WYMT (@WYMT) December 29, 2017
Chief Wilburn Preece with the Kermit Fire Department stated that although there were at least 40 men searching for the child in the Tug River, they might have taken too long to get their rescue boats into the water.
By the time they found his body, it was too late.
Paul was laid to rest Friday afternoon at the Mullins Family Funeral Home in Warfield.
His funeral was fully paid for with the money that was donated by people from across the world, according to WYMT . The owner of the Mullins Family Funeral Home, Joseph Mullins, stated that his Facebook post about Paul’s funeral arrangements reached more than 75,000 people.
If you would like to make a donation, you can call the Mullins Family Funeral Home at 606-390-2500.
All donations will go toward purchasing a monument for Paul and moving relatives closer to where he is buried.
The circumstances leading up to Paul’s death is unknown, but officials are ruling it an accident.
