Body of 16-year-old recovered from Lake Worth after reported drowning

The physique of a 16-year-old boy was recovered from Lake Worth Tuesday morning after the teenager waded into the water the night time earlier than and by no means resurfaced, authorities say.

Rescue crews from Fort Worth and Lake Worth responded round 8 p.m. Monday to a report of a potential drowning at Camp Joy Park within the 9600 block of Watercress Drive, on the west facet of Lake Worth, a Fort Worth fireplace spokesman stated.

Crews have been informed a teen had submerged beneath the water and didn’t come again up. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office recognized the 16-year-old as Sergio Molina on Tuesday. Officer Daniel Segura, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Police Department, confirmed Molina was the identical topic of their lacking individuals report.

Molina’s physique was recovered Tuesday morning simply earlier than 9:30 a.m.

Mary Laird lives close to Camp Joy Park. She recalled a heavy presence of emergency responders on Monday night time and Tuesday morning.

“All the ambulances, the fire trucks, medics, the dive team, helicopters and all that,” Laird stated. “So, we just sat on the porch and watched.”

Two Fort Worth Fire Department dive groups together with the Marshal’s Lake Patrol and Game Wardens searched the lake for greater than two hours Monday till search efforts have been suspended for the night time.

Matt Zavadsky with Medstar stated their groups responded, as effectively. At first, they have been unable to search out anybody.

“Sadly, we were called back out there this [Tuesday] morning because somebody did actually find someone who had come ashore,” Zavadsky stated. “”The typical lake-water drowning response might be very, very massive. So in extra to Medstar or different EMS response, relying on the place it happens, you’re positively going to get a big fireplace presence. The fireplace division has a dive workforce. Or the police division has dive groups.”

Zavadsky additionally famous a regarding improve in drowning calls they’ve gotten this yr.

“Just in the month of May this year, we’ve responded to seven drowning cases. Last May, May 2021…we only had one,” he stated. “Drowning is a very silent event. If you’re not watching for someone going under the water and going back out, it can go unnoticed.”

According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, the report for Molina’s dying stays incomplete as of Tuesday.