Tornado in Louisiana kills mother, son as huge winter storm hits U.S. heartland

A mother and her young son were killed overnight when a tornado ripped through a rural town in northwest Louisiana, one of a swarm of twisters that touched down in the region as part of a massive winter storm system sweeping the United States.

First responders found the young boy's deceased in a wooded area near his destroyed home in Keithville, Louisiana, a town of 300 people, late on Tuesday night after a tornado was spotted in the area, the Caddo Parish sheriff said in a statement.

Searchers later found the body of the boy's mother under debris one street over from the destroyed home, Sheriff Steve Prator said, noting that an adult male was taken to a local hospital with unknown injuries.