(Cleveland, OH) - The Lake County Sheriff’s Office along with members of the Painesville Township Fire Department responded to the north end of the breakwall at Headlands Beach State Park for a report of a 16-year-old boy who had been swimming in that area with friends when he went under water and did not resurface.
Additional resources were brought in to assist with the search from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol & Dive Team, the Mentor Fire Department Dive Team, the Fairport Harbor Fire Department, the Lake County UAS (Drone) Team, Ohio Division of Parks & Watercraft, and the United States Coast Guard. The search went into the night with the boy not being located.
The search and recovery efforts continued with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol & Dive Team, the Mentor Fire Department Dive Team, and Ohio Division of Parks and Watercraft on Saturday August 7th. Special assets were also brought in from SERT, the Southwest Emergency Response Team out of Cuyahoga County. SERT was able to provide the use of their “Kongsberg” Sector Sonar which was used throughout the area around the breakwall. These search efforts continued most of the day Saturday and still, the boy was not located.
On Sunday, August 8th, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol continued the search efforts throughout the morning. At 8:14 p.m., the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was advised that a recreational boater had located the body of a deceased male who had surfaced just under 1/2 mile north of the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse.
The United States Coast Guard was able to respond and secure the body which was later confirmed to be the missing 16-year-old boy. The family was quickly notified of the recovery by Deputies and the Mentor Police Department.
The boy, unfortunately was not wearing any type of personal flotation device.
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