Boy's Body Found In Rainbow Creek In San Diego County

RAINBOW, CA – The body of a Fallbrook boy who was swept away Sunday in a storm-swollen creek in northern San Diego County was found Thursday in the rural waterway.

Phillip Campbell had been missing since late Sunday afternoon, when the car the 5-year-old boy was riding in was washed away by rushing floodwaters off the 4800 block of Fifth Street in Rainbow, according to San Diego County Sheriff's officials.

A 911 caller reported seeing what appeared to be a child in the creek about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, sheriff's officials said. Search and rescuers instead found a man’s body several hours later near an overturned and sunken car on the edge of Rainbow Creek. The man was later identified as 73-year-old Roland Phillips.

Friends of the dead man told news crews he had been a close family friend of the missing child, and that he had been with the preschooler on an outing at the time they both disappeared. A family member said the two had left their home earlier in the day to check out a car for sale in Riverside County, officials said.

Deputies since then searched the length of the creek by ground and aboard a patrol helicopter.

After a five-day search, volunteer searchers found the missing child's body late Thursday morning, the boy's uncle, Anthony Campbell, confirmed in a Facebook post.

Sheriff's spokesman Ryan Keim did not respond to a request for information about the discovery.

An hourlong candlelight prayer service for Phillip is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Calvary Chapel Fallbrook, 488 Industrial Way.

This is a developing story. More information will be added as it is released. Please refresh this page for updates.

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Man's Body Found In Rainbow Creek Near Temecula; Recovery Efforts Resume For Reportedly Missing Child

City News Service contributed to this report.

Image courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff's Department.