ASTOR, Fla. – A 14-year-old boy is dead after a boat overturned Thursday afternoon in Schimmerhorn Lake.
[AUDIO: 911 call ]
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesman Greg Workman said three teen boys went out on the lake in a jon boat Thursday afternoon. Somehow the boat capsized and only two of the three were able to swim to shore.
One of the teens who made it out of the lake ran to houses nearby looking for help.
"When I came home the kid was across the street banging on the door and there was nobody home across the street, so he came over here and said that him and his buddy were on the boat with his buddy's little brother who was 14 and that the boat capsized, that it sank and they swam to shore but the 14-year-old didn't," said Valerie Withrow who called 911.
Investigators said the 14-year-old boy screamed to the two for help, but by the time they swam back he was underwater.
"The brother went back trying to find him and just saw bubbles, and then came back onto shore and they couldn't find him," said Withrow.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission found the boat on the bottom of the lake and were trying to pull it up.
"He just said that they were out there on the boat and they had just gotten the boat today, and I guess they didn't have any of the life preservers or anything on it. They were just going out there to test it from what I understand," said Withrow.
The 14-year-old boy's body was recovered late Thursday afternoon.
There were no other witnesses or people on the lake when the incident happened, authorities said.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office, along with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and FWC, took part in the extensive search. They called the investigation off late Thursday night due to darkness and for the safety of the divers.
Investigators will be back out after sunrise Friday to recover the boat.