PORTLAND — Authorities say they have found the bodies of two brothers missing since Sunday. The boys were reported missing after they failed to return from a fishing outing on the Willamette River.

Jill Thissell of the Independence Police Department said the bodies match descriptions of 20-year-old Alvin Troub and 8-year-old Michael Runyon.

The bodies were discovered under water and near a concrete deck where their fishing gear was found two days ago.

The search lasted more than 40 hours, and was conducted by volunteers, area law enforcement, divers and search dogs. Investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were assisting local authorities Tuesday. Family of Alvin Troub and Michael Runyon finally heard the news Tuesday afternoon they had feared most: The brothers had drowned on a fishing trip to the Willamette River near the town of Independence.

Searchers — including volunteers, police dive teams and specially trained dogs — had scoured the river and its banks for more than 40 hours over three days for the pair, after their fishing gear was found abandoned on a floating dock at the town’s Riverview Park.

Nancy Walker and her water-recovery dog, Argus, were one of several crews from Oregon K-9 Search Teams that detected the scent from bodies in the river near where two brothers were last seen. Their bodies were found in 10 to 15 feet of water and 7 feet from each other.

“We’re just in shock,” said the boys’ aunt, Laurie Runyon. “We never expected this outcome.”

Searchers and the family believe that Michael, 8 — who didn’t know how to swim — somehow fell into the river and Troub, 20, went to his rescue.

Troub’s body was recovered first, around 1 p.m. The boys’ mother, Mary Troub, who maintained a vigil at the riverbank throughout the search, held out hope for her younger son during the hour that followed.

But just after 2 p.m., authorities announced they’d spotted the body of the third-grader in the murky, 47-degree water.

“It’s unreal. … a nightmare,” said Runyon, speaking for the family.

Dogs trained to detect bodies under water helped searchers focus the area of operations for divers, pointing authorities to the section of the river where the bodies were ultimately found.