Missing boy, 13, found 'alive and talking' hours after falling into drainage pipe in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES -- A missing 13-year-old boy was found "alive and talking" more than 12 hours after he fell into a drainage pipe in Griffith Park in Los Angeles and was swept away, authorities said.

"It's with happy hearts that all Los Angeles city agencies are able to state that we have found Jesse Hernandez," fire Capt. Erik Scott said at the original scene Monday morning.

Jesse was reported missing about 4:30 p.m. the previous afternoon after he fell about 25 feet into the sewer pipe, prompting a massive response from multiple agencies.

WATCH: LAFD announces missing boy found 'alive and talking'


He was discovered "about a mile east of here, where the 134 westbound freeway goes underneath the 5 Freeway" as L.A. Sanitation personnel were opening a maintenance hatch to deploy a camera as part of the search, Scott said.

The boy was given a cellphone to call his family members, "who, as you can imagine, are overwhelmed with joy," the Los Angeles Fire Department captain said. Firefighter-paramedics attended to Jesse before he was transported to a hospital for treatment and decontamination.