Mother dies while trying to rescue 11-year-old daughter from California river

A Californian mother of three has drowned after attempting to rescue her daughter, who was having difficulties staying afloat while playing in a river.

The body of 30-year-old Brenda Duran was found in the San Joaquin River around two days after she went missing while trying to help her child, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said.

Duran was at the San Joaquin River at Fisherman’s Bend watching her children play in the water on Thursday afternoon when her 11-year-old daughter began to have difficulties keeping her head above the water.

At that point, Duran jumped into the river to help her daughter, the police said. Her 14-year-old son saw what was happening from the river bank and also jumped into the water to help both of them.

Duran’s son and daughter both managed to make it safely out of the river, but Duran did not.

"She just looked at me with a scared look, went under and never came back up," family member Felicia Guzman told the CBS13.

The two siblings were given immediate medical treatment at the scene by ambulance personnel, while authorities started to search for the missing mother.

The search continued for a couple of hours until around 11pm on the first day, when the authorities were forced to pause due to visibility and safety concerns, but Sheriff’s patrol units remained at the scene throughout the night.

The next morning, the Sheriff’s Department Dive Team responded to the area and continued the search, the police wrote.

While Duran was at first entered into the missing person’s database, volunteers helping with the search discovered the missing mother’s body on Saturday afternoon, the day before Mother’s Day, police said in an update.

Duran’s body was found around 5.30pm, before the sheriff’s deputies were alerted. An autopsy will be conducted in due course to determine her cause of death.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Brenda Duran during this time,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Duran’s family to raise funds for her funeral expenses and basic needs for the family during the “unimaginable difficult time.”

Duran’s husband described her as a “very thriving person, always smiling, never giving up and very compassionate.”

"Brenda, a young mother full of love and laughter, leaves behind her three children, her husband and her extended family that will forever hold her in her heart,” the page said.