BOY DIES AFTER FALLING IN RAIN-SWOLLEN ARROYO.

Byline: Alicia Doyle and Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writers

Eleven-year-old Joel Burchfield was taking a shortcut home from school Wednesday, along a route he and other classmates had taken countless times through a normally dry creek bed.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the rain had turned the Arroyo Simi creek into a fast-moving current of water. Joel fell in, and was swept to his death.

"This is a mother's worst nightmare," said Patty Cappucino, whose son Timothy attended classes with Joel at Chaparral Middle School.

"Our kids have done the same thing Joel did," said Patti Dalrymple, an area resident who added that children had been warned not to use the arroyo crossing. "It could have been our children."

Friends and neighbors - many of whom joined in an overnight search for Joel after he was reported missing Wednesday night - gathered outside the family's Sunnyglen Drive home Thursday, remembering a boy who loved soccer, baseball and basketball.

"Joel was one of my best friends," said 12-year-old Aaron Garcia, who met Joel five years ago on a youth baseball team. "He was always so happy, and made everyone else happy. I'm going to miss him."

Joel's family was secluded in their home Thursday.

Police say Joel was last seen crossing a Kmart parking lot about 3:30 p.m., just south of the school.

Police theorize that Joel walked through the parking lot to where Liberty Bell Road dead-ends into the Arroyo Simi. At that point, the creek is lined with concrete so county flood control trucks and emergency vehicles can cross it.

Officials say the water in the channel - normally just a few inches high - was a few feet high and moving fast. They theorize that he was knocked off his feet and swept downstream while trying to cross.

His body was discovered about 7 a.m. Thursday, nearly seven miles downstream from where authorities believe he fell into the wash, said Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

The boy's parents began looking for him about 6 p.m. Wednesday. An hour later, authorities began an official search - bolstered by about 100 volunteers from the community.

Around 2 a.m. Thursday, Joel's backpack was discovered near the area where authorities believe he fell into the Arroyo Simi.

The arroyo, which begins in Simi Valley and flows through Moorpark joining the Calleguas Creek in Camarillo, is maintained by the Ventura County Flood Control District.

While the city of Moorpark does not control the Arroyo Simi, the city has been planning to build a pedestrian bridge in the vicinity of Liberty Bell Road, said city manager Steve Kueny.

Ernie Bravo, chief of the flood district's Public Works Department in Moorpark, said the district has posted "No Trespassing" signs on several locations along the arroyo, but admitted they have little effect.

"Kids will be kids," he said.

Many children in Joel's neighborhood uses the Arroyo Simi as a shortcut, said Brad Olszowy, 13, who sometimes walked home from school with Joel.

"When it was dry, it was safe," Brad said.

But when it rained, the water sometimes rose to knee level and could easily sweep a youngster off his feet, Brad said.

Moorpark Assistant School Superintendent Frank DePasquale said students are instructed on safety routes between each school and their homes as part of the district's disaster preparedness plan.

"Students are informed not to make any attempt to cross the arroyo," he said.

Joel's sixth-grade teachers were not available Thursday, but his fifth-grade teachers remembered him as a popular boy with a good sense of humor.

"He had an endearing personality," said teacher Helene Phillips. "There wasn't one student that ever complained about him. He knew a lot of the students."

In the fifth-grade class picture, Joel is one of several boys with their arms pulled inside their shirts and grins on their faces.

"The boys were real close-knit in that class," Phillips said.

Judy Rosenbaum, Joel's language arts and social studies teacher in fifth grade, recalled that the youngster's parents were very involved in both his sports and academic pursuits.

"He was a confident child," Rosenbaum said. "He was confident about his ability in the classroom and on the ballfield."

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PHOTO[ordinal indicator, masculine]MAP

(1 -- color) Family and friends gather at the Burchfield home Thursday to lend support and recall Joel. (2) Eleven-year-old Joel Burchfield slipped into the rain-swollen Arroyo Simi in Moorpark while taking a shortcut home from school Wednesday. (3) Joel's picture appeared on a flier circulated by his family Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News Map Shortcut across the arroyo used by school children, the Burchfield residence and Chaparral Middle School