Photo: Sarasota Sheriff
An 18-year-old has died following what authorities say appears to an incident with a malfunctioning paddle boat on a lake in Sarasota, Florida.
Jalen Smith was found dead in the north end of a lake at Nathan Benderson Park on Friday morning, theSarasota County Sheriff’s Officesaid in a statement.
Deputies were called to the scene around 4:30 a.m. for a marine rescue, according to officials. Upon arrival, responding deputies learned that two people had taken a paddle boat out into the middle of the lake.
Though one of the boaters made it safely to shore, he called 911 when he noticed that his friend was “having trouble swimming,” according to the statement from the sheriff’s office.
Officials said Smith’s body was recovered just after 11 a.m.
“The incident appears accidental, however the investigation is ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said in their statement.
Smith had recently graduated from Sarasota High School, according tolocal news station WFLA.
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“Jalen is just somebody that smiled all the time. Great kid, work ethic was amazing. I mean he was a kid that I won’t forget ever just because of the way he held himself together,” said Fernando Rivera, a coach for the junior varsity basketball team.
“He just made everyone happier,” Rivera added. “He just wanted to bring a smile to everybody’s face no matter how rough the day was going and he would put everybody before himself. He is just that type of kid.”
A cause of death has not yet been released. A representative for the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office, which oversees Sarasota County, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
