BEARDSTOWN – Officials with multiple agencies are searching the Illinois River near Beardstown for two young boys who went missing Thursday evening.

The boys are 12 and 15 years old. The boys went missing near mile marker 88 on the river. The search is around the main channel of the river.

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The boys were wading in shallow water near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Bridge around 7:30 p.m. when they apparently waded out too far, got caught up in the current, and disappeared.

Crews from Fulton County, Havana, Jacksonville, Cass County Sheriff’s Department, the Illinois State Police aerial unit, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police, and Beardstown Police Department are involved in the search.

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