Two Snellville children drown in Tallulah River

<p>A 55-member rescue team has found the bodies of two Snellville boys who drowned Saturday after they slipped on the rocks of a restricted area at Tallulah Gorge State Park in north Georgia.</p><p>A daring rescue by two tourists from Canada saved the boys' mother and her boyfriend.</p><p>Rescue teams found the body of 8-year-old Xavier Ray Sunday afternoon, said Chief Bill Goatcher of the Tallulah Falls Police Department. The body of a foster child in the family, 5-year-old Elijah Sheppard, was found Saturday night after the two children were swept away by swift currents in the Tallulah River about 6 p.m.</p><p>"They had walked down the steps to the gorge floor and two of their children were playing on a restricted area on the rocks when they slipped and fell in the water," Goatcher said. "It was a pretty dangerous area. The mother and her boyfriend went in trying to get them and almost lost their lives."</p><p>The mother, Stephanie Ray, and her boyfriend, Robert Stokes, were saved by two tourists from Ontario, Jim Wilson and Richard Toth, who witnessed the scene from an overlook area, said Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokesman Paul Nelson.</p><p>"They ran down the steps and jumped in the water," Nelson said. "One got the mother over to a rock in the middle of the river, and the other got the boyfriend back to shore."</p><p>Nelson said Toth "was banged up pretty bad when he was washed over the next waterfall" while attempting to find the boys. Toth was treated on the scene and did not require further medical attention, he said.</p><p>"He's got a lot of bruises, but he did the man thing and said no doctors," Wilson said Sunday in a telephone interview.</p><p>Wilson, 52, said he began his motorcycle ride back to Erin, Ontario Sunday but was so upset by Saturday's events he had to stop in Tennessee.</p><p>"I just phoned my wife and I was crying like a baby," Wilson said.</p><p>Nelson said Stephanie Ray and Stokes had been warned by a park manager of potential dangers near the river.</p><p>"They were cautioned not to go down to the gorge floor because of the danger," he said. "They evidently chose to ignore the advice."</p><p>The boys slipped into the river at a time more water than normal had been released from the Tallulah Lake Dam, Goatcher said.</p><p>Wilson said Xavier Ray acted bravely in trying to save Sheppard.</p><p>"The younger brother slipped in and the older brother immediately went in after him," Wilson said. "He didn't hesitate. I think they were holding hands in the water, but they were just too small to hang on."</p><p>While Stephanie Ray was still clinging to a rock in the river, her 15-year-old son, Geno Ray, called 911 and Georgia Power cut off the water release at the dam, Nelson said.</p><p>"The mom managed to hang onto the rock and I yelled for her to just stay there," Wilson said. "If Richard had not gone after the children, she probably would have. I just found out today that she can't swim, but that's what mothers do."</p><p>Wilson said when he saw Toth go over a waterfall, "I thought for a minute maybe we were both gone."</p><p>"A tree saved the day for me," Wilson said. "It was so slimy and wet in the river, but I managed to grab a tree growing out of the rocks, just enough to hang on."</p><p>Soon after the 911 call, the first rescue team arrived and rescued Stephanie Ray from the rock in the river. Wilson and Toth helped direct the rescue teams to where Sheppard's body was found.</p><p>Nelson said rescue workers with Tallulah Falls, Habersham County, Cornelia, Rabun County and the DNR worked on both sides of the river until Xavier Ray's body was found Sunday afternoon.</p><p>The park was closed Sunday and will reopen Monday, Nelson said.</p><p>Nelson said the boys were the first accidental deaths at the park since a permit system was put in place about nine years ago. With the permit system, tourists check in with workers and are advised of possible dangers.</p>

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