Mother tells heartbreaking story of son being drowned in California flooding.

5-year-old Kyle Doan was pulled into the raging waters near Paso Robles. His mother lost control of her car and ended up being pinned against a tree. Lindsy Doan said she initially didn’t think the water flowing over the creek crossing was deeper than normal.

The creek, swollen with rain from California’s epic winter storms, was much higher than Lindsy Doan expected. Doan’s 4,300-pound SUV was carried off the road and pinned against a large sycamore tree. “Mom, it’s OK,” her son reassured her from the back seat.

Raging floodwaters swept Kyle away and carried him downstream, possibly into a river, police say. Mother: “We’re worried because I don’t know if they’re going to be able to find him”. The storms that have pounded California since the end of December have claimed at least 18 lives.

More than 100 people, including National Guard troops, dive teams and volunteers picking through shoulder-high piles of driftwood on the banks of San Marcos Creek searched for a third day Wednesday for Kyle. So far, they’ve found only one of his blue and gray Nike shoes.

His mother said that He returned to school on Monday for the first day he was allowed to play without restrictions after recovering from a broken leg. Kyle’s mother says he loves making people smile and loves being the center of attention.

The creek running along San Marcos Road is like so many California Rivers and streams – a sinuous band of sand that only flows with winter and spring rains. The Doan family drove the same route Sunday to a truck stop on Highway 101, splashing through the waters without incident.

Doan Doan’s car began taking on water, so she decided to abandon it and hug a tree. With the current pinning the rear door closed, she told Kyle to leave his belongings and climb into the front seat. “This isn’t going to end well for someone,” Jalbert said as he watched the flooding unfold.

Search continues for 5-year-old boy swept away by flooding.

“I don’t care about your backpack,” she said. “I just want you to come to me.”

She was able to grab his hand but her grip was tenuous and the current swept Kyle around the other side of the tree.

“I could feel his fingers slipping from mine,” she said. As the water pulled them apart, she let go of the tree to try to get her son, who couldn’t swim.

“I saw his head kind of floating and he was looking at me because he was going backwards,” she said. “I was trying to keep my head above the water, but the currents kept pulling me down. And after a while I didn’t see Kyle or what was going on.”

Collins missed seeing Doan drive into the creek. But her screams caught his attention.

“I looked at my wife and said, ‘That sounds like a human,’ and just ran up the river,” Collins says. Lindsy Doan managed to grab some branches of bushes underwater and Collins tossed her a life line. It was only then that he realized the other figure that washed by was her little boy.

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