Body of missing swimmer found in Lake Nokomis
Curtis Gilbert and Liala Helal
St. Paul, Minn.
Water patrol officers found the body of a missing teenage boy in Minneapolis' Lake Nokomis Wednesday morning, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office received the report of the missing swimmer at 10:16 a.m. and the boy's body was found at 11:19 a.m., according to the sheriff's office.
The incident took place at Lake Nokomis 50th Street Beach, according to Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board spokeswoman Robin Smothers. There was no lifeguard on duty at that beach, she added. The beach has a lifeguard Thursdays through Sundays.
The teen, who was with a group of about seven friends, was swimming out to join his friends on a platform in the lake when he began to show signs of distress, said Lt. Art Saunders of the Hennepin County Sherriff's Office.
"It's my understanding that they heard him having trouble," Saunders said. "He yelled for help, and then went under, and then they tried to locate him after that."
The boy's friends failed to find him. A passerby called 911, and the Sheriff's Office located the body in 15-foot-deep water about an hour later using sonar.
Lifeguards conducting swimming lessons at the larger beach came to help when they saw sirens, but by then it was too late.
The boy's name will be released following identification by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.