Carbon monoxide was killer of dad, son

Two died after car got stuck in river

A father and son found dead June 30 inside a vehicle that was stuck in the North Fork of the Saline River died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the Saline County sheriff's office announced Tuesday.

Lonnie Moore, 37, and his 10-year-old son, both of Benton, were found inside a white Jeep Cherokee with its back end immersed in the river near Brushy Creek south of Lake Norrell, according to the sheriff's office. The sheriff's office didn't release the name of the boy.

According to an obituary supplied by Dial and Dudley Funeral Home in Bryant, the boy's name was Riley James Moore. Obituaries for both list their dates of death as June 29.

The cause of death announcement followed an examination by the state Crime Laboratory, sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Jeffrey Silk said in a news release. The sheriff's office Criminal Investigation Division "has not found anything suspicious in the circumstances surrounding their deaths," Silk said.

Moore's father, who knew the pair were in the area, found the partially submerged Cherokee and called 911 on the morning of June 30.

When sheriff's deputies arrived about 7:25 a.m., the Cherokee was about 25 to 50 feet from the river's bank with Moore in the driver's seat and his son in the front passenger seat.

The back end of the Cherokee was underwater, and the vehicle's tailpipe was submerged, Silk said at the time. The Cherokee's windows were rolled up, though the driver's-side window was slightly cracked.

The two bodies were not underwater, and there was no visible damage to the Cherokee.

State Desk on 07/08/2015

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