ST. PAUL, Minn. - Authorities on Thursday recovered the body of a second child killed when a rockslide hit a group of fourth-graders in a St. Paul park a day earlier and announced that the popular fossil-hunting area would be closed indefinitely.
The boy had been missing since rain-saturated soil gave way Wednesday afternoon during the field trip to Lilydale Regional Park by students from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park. Police, firefighters and civilians dug frantically with shovels and their hands to get to the children.
The child was found late Thursday morning after the search was suspended overnight because of unsafe conditions.
Mayor Chris Coleman said the area was off-limits indefinitely and that no permits for fossil hunting would be issued. The city typically issues about 400 permits a year for the area.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 05/24/2013