LAS VEGAS (AP) - Crews are searching for a 17-year-old boy who somehow ended up in flooded a drainage wash in Henderson, Nev.

Family and friends have gathered to search for William Mootz, who was swept away down the flood channel after heavy rains Wednesday. Henderson police say he had been hanging out with a group of friends and apparently didn't intend to get into the water.

Family members say the incoming high school senior is a strong swimmer and has emergency preparedness experience.

More than a dozen Henderson police officers were walking alongside the wash with guidance from city public works employees who know how water typically flows down the channel.

City crews, meanwhile, got to work clearing brush and mud from box culverts where the wash crossed beneath roads.

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