ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Search and rescue teams found the body of a teen in Belews Lake Wednesday night, hours after the boy disappeared.
According to officials, two families were boating when they pulled to the shoreline of the beach area of the lake. The children went swimming and one went too far without a life jacket and drowned, NC Wildlife Officer DJ Woods said.
Stokes County emergency workers said they started their search around 5:30 p.m. About 50 people helped search the lake for the boy. They used sonar and a dive team. Madison-Rockingham Rescue Squad, among others, also assisted in the search. The squad got an image of what felt like it could have been the teen. High Point police identified the boy underwater and sent two divers in.
The area where he was found was 14 to 20 feet of water, Woods said.
With the warmer weather and summer just around the corner, Brandon Lyon with NC Wildlife says if you're planning to go to a Lake It's important to keep safety at the top of your mind.
"Please wear a life jacket. If you're on a boat wear it and if you choose to go for a swim put it around you. It's not going to inhibit you in any way, if nothing else just carry one out there with you and so if you do get tired it can hopefully save your life," said Lyon.
Lyon told News 2 that similar incidents like this recent one have happened at the lake in the past years.
"Since about 2014, unfortunately, we have had averaged about one fatality on the lake a year and it's usually a result of drowning. Some of those may be people left a boat voluntarily to go swim or they left from the shoreline to go swim and they weren't wearing a life jacket," said Lyon.
Officials did not release the teen's name or age. NC Wildlife officials told News 2 The Stokes County Sheriff's Office will handle the investigation.