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Body of 4-year-old recovered at Lake Corpus Christi identified

A family outing on the lake quickly turned tragic for one Mathis family on Sunday.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera told 3NEWS that the four-year-old drowning victim was Gabriel Gonzalez. 

Rivera says he has been in law enforcement for 50 years and he says it is always tough to see family members having to grieve over the loss loved ones.

The missing 4-year-old drowning victim has been recovered at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, according to Sheriff Oscar Rivera. 

The body of 29-year-old Pedro Aguirre was pulled out of Lake Corpus Christi just before noon on Monday. 

The Mathis man had been fishing at Catfish Cove at the state park on Sunday when his son and daughter went out into the lake and began struggling in the water

Aguirre and other family members rushed over and jumped in to save the children. Someone called 911 and deputies quickly arrived.  

San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera told 3NEWS that Deputy Matt Ponder rescued three of the five people in the water, including the Aguirre's little girl.

The sheriff explained how the incident is believed to have unfolded.

"Apparently hit a hole or something and went down, his little sister went after him and then the family is trying to save everyone," he said. "But it was some type of rip current, we’d never seen that before, but it was a whirlpool type of water going to the bottom and it looks like she couldn’t pull out. Even the deputies say the same thing, they were having a difficult time pulling the girl up." 

Park Rangers, Game Wardens, the sheriff’s department and other law enforcement and EMS were all part of the recovery effort. One that was made more difficult by Mother Nature.

"With the wind gusts up to 30 mph today and sustains at 25 that is making it a little difficult for the search and rescue crews to make the recovery," Game Warden Captain Ben Baker said.

3NEWS asked officials how this tragedy could have been prevented.

"Really it’s common sense, you know, take care of your little ones. Life jackets are cheap and it’s worth a life," Rivera said.

He added, at the time, that the search for the 4-year-old would continue until the little boy is found.   

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