A 16-year-old boy drowned in Shaver Lake after his life jacket slipped off while jumping off a pontoon boat o Sunday, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office reported. (Instagram/Fresno County SO)
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A 16-year-old boy drowned in Shaver Lake on Sunday afternoon after his life jacket slipped off, authorities said.
The teen was identified Monday afternoon as Alejandro Araujo of Orosi. Araujo was a student at Orosi High School who was just wrapping up his junior year, the sheriff’s office said.
The incident occurred around 12:40 p.m. when Araujo jumped off a pontoon boat near the island at Camp Chawanakee and failed to resurface.
Araujo wore a U.S. Coast Guard Type Two life jacket around his neck but had failed to fasten it around his body, causing it to slip off as he entered the approximately 65-degree water. A member of his group leaped into the lake in an attempt to rescue him but was unable to locate him.
Patrolling deputies arrived at the scene by boat, but their initial search efforts yielded no results.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office Dive Unit recovered the body around 1:50 p.m. approximately 15 feet below the lake’s surface.
Deputies later learned that Araujo did not know how to swim well.
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