Teen drowns after rescuing 12-year-old boy from Northern California lake, authorities say
A teen drowned in a Northern California lake on Sunday after helping rescue a 12-year-old boy who did not know how to swim, local authorities said.
Dive and rescue teams were dispatched around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to Lake Camanche in response to reports of a drowning victim, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday in a news release.
Witnesses at the scene told authorities that a 12-year-old boy had entered the water at the reservoir’s Eucalyptus Day Use Area, then began to struggle “due to the uneven lake bottom and not knowing how to swim,” the news release said.
The boy’s friend, a 17-year-old, entered the water to help him and managed to grab the younger boy, then handed him off to another swimmer.
“It was reported (the 17-year-old) became tired and suffered a cramp in his lower leg and subsequently went underwater,” sheriff’s authorities wrote.
A Calaveras sheriff’s dive team ultimately located the teen’s body about 30 feet off the shore, 14 feet deep in the water.
The victim’s identity has not been released by Calaveras County sheriff or coroner’s officials.
The Sheriff’s Office says Sunday’s drowning marks the second in Calaveras County in less than two weeks. Authorities urged swimmers to use life jackets, to constantly supervise children and those who do not swim well and to always swim within their ability.
The National Weather Service advises that though the air temperature may be warm this time of year, water in many of Northern California’s waterways usually continues to run cold and fast until around late July or early August.
Lake Camanche is about 15 miles northeast of Lodi, near the junction of Amador, Calaveras and San Joaquin counties.
