Body of missing duck hunter who died trying to save brother found in California lake after two-week search

Wesley Cornett (left) and Andrew Cornett were duck hunting when they both disappeared into California’s Thermalito Afterbay last month - (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Police have discovered the body of 19-year-old Andruw Cornett, who dove into a California reservoir to save his 17-year-old brother while duck hunting last month.

A Butte County Sheriff’s Office pilot spotted Andruw’s body in Thermalito Afterbay near the town of Oroville on Tuesday morning, the Los Angeles Times reports. Andruw disappeared on December 14 after calling 911 to report that his brother Wesley’s kayak had overturned.

Dispatchers told Andruw “multiple times” to keep out of the water, but he disregarded their instructions and jumped in to save Wesley, who was swimming north of the overturned kayak. Neither was reportedly wearing a lifejacket.

Emergency crews were on the scene 15 minutes later, soon finding a kayak and paddles in the reservoir. Investigators later found pants, a wallet and a phone belonging to the Cornetts. The boys were nowhere to be seen.

Wesley’s body was still missing as of Thursday morning.

A Butte County Sheriff’s Office pilot found Andruw’s body more than two weeks after he disappeared into the lake while trying to save his brother (Butte County Sheriff’s Office)

The pilot who spotted Andruw’s body as part of the search mission had to land shortly afterward due to drone activity in the area.

“The search will continue by air, but the use of drones in the search area prevents our pilots from flying,” a Butte County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said in a statement.

On December 23, the sheriff’s office announced they were shifting their focus to a “continuous limited search.”

“At this point in the recovery, we have exhausted efforts with divers and sonar technology and will shift the focus to a continuous limited search,” a spokesperson for the office said at the time. “This involves surface search methods, which includes aircrafts, drones, boats, on-shore vehicles, and K9s.”

April Clark, the boys’ mother, started a GoFundMe shortly after their disappearance.

“Andruw is a hero in my eyes,” Clark wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“This is a freak accident that my family and I are trying to wrap our heads around and we also have 4 girls at home who we still need to care for,” she added.

The GoFundMe had raised more than $45,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Thermalito Afterbay is 4,300 acres with weeds up to 10 feet tall and temperatures that could cause hypothermia. The lake is located in Northern California, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.