A North Carolina family is in mourning after authorities found a 14-year-old's body. The teen went missing while fishing on a North Carolina beach with his brother. The incident happened on the 4th of July. Sadly, he was swept away by the currents in the water.
According to NBC affiliate WRAL and the Goldsboro Daily News, the North Carolina teen is Mainor Perez. Perez and his brother Yunior were fishing in New River Inlet. However, the current swept Mainor away. The North Topsail Beach Fire Rescue and Coast Guard combed the area to look for the missing teen. They deployed a drone to search over a larger scope of area. However, they didn't find the teen.
Fast forward several days later, and Perez's body washed to shore at Camp Lejeune on July 7. Authorities quickly notified his family about his passing. Following his disappearance, his brother explained exactly what happened.
"The water wasn't too deep, but someone explained to me later there are holes like 30 feet deep, and I think that's what happened, [Mainor] slipped in and he couldn't get out," he told the Goldsboro Daily News. "The current was going in and not going out."
While a nearby boat rescued Mainor's brother, the North Carolina teen disappeared under the water.
North Carolina Teen Drowns
"He couldn't do anything because I saw him in the boat, and he tried to swim back by himself," Yunior told the outlet. Apparently, the area posts warnings about the strong current.
"We ride by there pretty often and warn people fishing, and warn parents that there's a drop off," North Topsail Beach Police Chief William Younginer told the Goldsboro Daily News. "It's close to the same area where a 17-year-old who was using a cast net went missing last summer. He floated up on the third day."
The deceased teen had planned to go to college and pursue an education.
"I started a construction company about six months ago, and he was helping me with that," his brother said. "He was already planning on attending Wayne Community College and then transferring to UNC Chapel Hill."
"We're going to miss him so much. I'm not sure how we're going to go through this," Yunior told the station. "It's hard."
