Flood victims: 'I'm sure she fought for him to the very end'
ALBANY, Ore. - Hundreds of mourners gathered Thursday to remember a mother and son who died when flood waters swept away the car they were in Wednesday.
Catherine McLaughlin, 18, and her 20-month-old son Aiden died when the car got swept out of the Mega Foods parking lot into Periwinkle Creek.
"It's just so young to be gone," said Eleanor Palmtag, a friend of the victims. "Just too young."
Soft candlelight illuminated the the banks of the creek at the vigil Thursday.
The waters have since receded, far different from the raging torrent that washed the car into an underground tunnel.
The driver Christopher Wilgus, 24, and his 5-year-old son Maliki survived. The boy is being treated at OHSU in Portland.
Searchers found Aiden's body at 1 a.m. Thursday.
His mother's body was found later in the day.
At the vigil, mourners said Catherine likely gave her life for her son.
"She wouldn't let him go," Deena Palmtag, a friend of the victims. "I'm sure she fought for him to the very end."
They asked people to keep the survivors in their prayers.
"Chris needs a lot of prayers," Palmtag said. "He's lost two people that he loved dearly, and he's fighting to hold onto his son."
