Rain-swollen waters contributed to the drowning death of a Cedar Bluff man and his daughter as they were swept over Little River Falls into Little River Canyon about 12:30 p.m. Thursday as they waded below the G.E. Hill Bridge off Alabama 35.

The bodies were later recovered by divers from the river.

Michael Thomas Hughes, 30, and his daughter, Kayla Shae Hughes, 7, were the victims.

According to one witness, Hughes and his daughter were clinging to each other as they went over waterfall. Another witness reported that the man hit his head on the rocks and was bleeding as he went over.

The girl's shoes were found above the falls near where the two were seen wading before they were swept away.

An immediate search effort was instigated by rangers from the Little River Canyon National Preserve and other rescue agencies with a team going into the canyon below the falls and another entering downstream at Little Falls and hiking back up the river to Little River Falls. No signs of the man or his daughter were found.

The effort moved from a rescue to a search for bodies shortly after 3 p.m. as divers began combing the river. The man’s body was recovered at about 3:40 p.m. and the girl's body at 4:25 p.m. and they were brought up the canyon wall on the Cherokee County side of the river.

Among agencies assisting the National Park Service were DeSoto State Park, DeKalb Ambulance Service, Fort Payne Fire and Rescue, DeKalb County Sheriff's Department and Fischer Rescue Squad.

The area is a favorite for waders when the river is low as Little River stretches about 100 feet across at the falls, which cascades over the rocks, dropping about 45 feet as it becomes Little River Canyon.

Rains such as the area has had the past couple of weeks turn transform the usually slow-moving water into a fast-flowing, hazardous stream.

A month earlier, Terry Williams Jr., 18, of Rome, Ga., drowned while swimming with friends in the canyon. His body was recovered after an overnight search that lasted 17 hours