UPDATE: ‘Massive’ Search for Little Mattie and Conrad Is Over – One Body Was Found

• A flash flood in Pennsylvania claimed the life of a mother and carried two children away.
• Police sprung into action after the kids were reported missing, initiating a search immediately.
• After a long and intense search for the missing children, the police finally updated the public.

On Saturday, July 15, a flash flood in Pennsylvania claimed the lives of seven people. After the rushing waters suddenly raged through a local town, police responded by calling out rescue teams, eventually returning most of the bodies to their grieving families. That said, two small children were still lost in the flood.

Although many of the bodies claimed by the flood were returned to their loved ones, two small children remained missing. Police sprung into action, looking for Matilda Sheils, two, and her nine-month-old brother Conrad Sheils. The kids were part of three family members who were swept away by the flood.

Reports indicate that Katie Seley, the mother of the two missing children, failed to make it out of the waters and was carried away. Luckily, her husband, Jim Sheils, their four-year-old son, and Katie's mom, Dahlia Galindez, safely made it out of the flood. While Katie's body was found, rescue teams kept looking for the two missing children.

Police started their search for the missing people after weather conditions had cleared up, and soon recovered the first of the bodies.

Law enforcement assured the public that they would keep searching until they found the missing children. They also stated that the flood was one of the biggest tragedies in recent history, not only causing massive damage to the local area but also taking the lives of innocent people.

Rescue teams deployed every measure they had to find the missing victims, fine-combing the Delaware River with boats, divers, drones, and K9 teams. The "massive" search for the two missing kids continued for a while until they eventually found one of the kids. The search continued for the remaining child.

How the Search Ended

Katie Seley and her family had driven to Pennsylvania to spend a day with family and friends. They were on their way to a barbecue when a massive torrent of rain unleashed a flood of water that swept away cars and submerged houses. Sadly, Katie and her two kids couldn't get out of the water in time.

Images of the aftermath were released, showing cars that had been pushed off the road and even one vehicle that had been entirely upturned by the sheer force of the water. Police started their search for the missing people after weather conditions had cleared up, and soon recovered the first of the bodies.

The police kept the general public up-to-date concerning their search efforts, noting that they were having little luck in tracking down the two missing children. Finally, after deploying marine units in the Delaware River and searching along the river banks, law enforcement declared that they had found one of the kids.

Police informed the public that they had found the body of little Matilda Sheils and returned the little girl to her mourning family. Police found the little girl's body on Friday, July 21, in the Delaware River. The rushing water had carried her over 30 miles from where she first disappeared. Her brother was still missing.

Police kept looking for little Conrad, although things seemed bleak. After exhausting every possible resource, the police called off the search for Conrad. They expressed their regret at not recovering the baby boy but noted that they would not soon forget the child. They wrote on Facebook:

"At this point, we have exhausted all means of attempting to locate Conrad. With broken hearts, we regretfully announce that the active search for Conrad has concluded."

The father of the family, his oldest son, Jack, and the grandmother are reportedly recovering after escaping the flood. Dahlia is the only one of the family who was rescued alive after initially being swept away by the deluge and spent some time in the local hospital. Read more about this incident here.