California IN BRIEF : RANDSBURG : Boy Pulled From Mud Trap in Desert

An 11-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes boy buried up to his neck in a quicksand-like muck near Koehn Dry Lake was rescued in good condition after a four-hour desert ordeal. Firefighters were called in Thursday afternoon after it was determined the thick mud’s suction prevented John Connett from working himself free. The boy was then taken by helicopter to Antelope Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Palmdale, where he was treated for exposure and released. Connett and his father had been riding on three-wheel off-road vehicles when the boy became stuck up to his kneecaps in the muck in the lake bed area 20 miles north of California City. By the time his father returned with help, the boy was up to his neck.