CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens have recovered the body of a teenage boy in Lake Corpus Christi.
The San Patricio County Sheriff confirmed the victim's identity as Mathis ISD student Jeremiah De Leon-Smith.
Game wardens said they were called out to the lake at about 6 p.m. Sunday for a possible drowning.
"It was a normal day of a 13-year-old," said game warden Captain Ben Baker. "They were enjoying the water. Unfortunately, the group got a little too deep, unaware of swimming capabilities that always plays into it, no life jackets or floatation devices we are aware of and the swimmer got distressed and the swimmer drowned."
Five teenage boys reportedly had been on a jon boat with no motor earlier in the day, using it as a platform to jump into the water. As they jumped, the boat began drifting away from shore and one of the teenagers never resurfaced.
In a Facebook post Monday afternoon, Mathis Independent School District expressed its condolences to the family of its student Jeremiah De Leon-Smith. San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera confirmed to 3NEWS that Jeremiah is the 13-year-old who was found Monday.
A number of agencies took part in the search including divers from the San Patricio County Sheriff's Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, Texas Parks and Wildlife State Police, San Patricio County Constables Office, and area volunteer fire departments.
Captain Baker said visitors who come out to enjoy the lake should also know the dangers the man made reservoir can pose. He said there are various obstacles like tree branches underwater to sudden drop offs of the surface floor. He encourages everyone to know their swimming capabilities.
"What we are seeing a lot of is some of these inflatable rafts, that some of these younger kids will get on the wind will blow them across and they might think they can swim back to land or fall overboard and they don't have a personal floatation device on board, they get in trouble and get in a bad situation," said Baker.
An email sent from TPW states that he was found by the Underwater Search and Recovery Team using sonar equipment.
This is a developing story. 3NEWS will provide updates as they become available.
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