An LAFD spokesman made the announcement at the scene about 5:45 a.m.
Jesse Hernandez was reported missing the previous afternoon, prompting a massive response from multiple agencies.
The initial report came in just before 4:30 p.m. of a 13-year-old boy who fell into a drainage pipe that feeds into the river. More than 100 firefighters were searching the water near the 5200 block of W. Zoo Drive with no sign of the boy.
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The drainage ditch is about 13 feet wide and two feet deep, with swift moving water.
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Officials said Jesse and some friends had climbed a chain-link fence and were playing in an abandoned maintenance shed near the river when a wooden plank gave way, opening a hole that led into a drainage pipe and the boy fell in. The water was moving fast, about 6-10 mph, officials estimated.
More than 20 members of the Hernandez family were attending a picnic in the Griffith Park area at the time as part of an annual Easter tradition.