Lake embankment collapses, killing 6-year-old Southern California girl

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Rina Reyes, 6, of Rowland Heights, a southeast Los Angeles County suburb, was buried about 2 p.m. Saturday on a beach a few miles from Katherine's Landing, Ranger Ralph Patterson of the National Park Service said Monday.

"It took four or five men to take the sand boulder off of her. She had massive head injuries. She was bleeding from the ears, nose and mouth," Patterson said.

The girl's 4-year-old sister was also pulled from the debris with a broken arm and possible concussion. A 5-year-old brother wasn't hurt.

The Reyes family was boating on Lake Mohave, which is part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and is located five miles north of Laughlin, Nev.

"The lake is quite high right now and there are really no beaches," Patterson said. "The family spent quite a bit of time to find a beach that was satisfactory."

Water and wind may have weakened the embankment, investigators said.

The girl was taken by boat to Katherine's Landing, where three vacationing Los Angeles County firefighters began CPR until Bullhead City, Ariz., paramedics arrived, said Assistant Fire Chief Rick Southey of the Bullhead department.

"There was no heart activity," Southey said Monday. The girl was flown to Bullhead Community Hospital, where she was declared dead, he said.