GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. – Authorities said the body of a 13-year-old boy who vanished while swimming in the York River Friday afternoon was discovered by someone walking at the Gloucester Point beach Sunday morning.
The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office said the child was found at 7:15 a.m. about a half mile from where he was originally reported missing at Gloucester Point beach.
The boy's body was taken to the medical examiner’s office to determine his exact cause of death.
Search for missing 13-year-old boy in York River near Gloucester Point Beach. (SOURCE: WTKR)
Crews responded to a report of a missing swimmer around 4:40 p.m. Friday.
Coast Guard officials told WTKR that the 13-year-old boy was swimming with his sister near Gloucester Point Beach when he disappeared.
WAVY reportedthat a woman who said she is the child's mother identified him as Chandler “Chad” Shetterly.
“I don’t know if he went under, or if he went out," Amy Shetterly, the boy's sister, told WAVY. "I’m hoping he just wandered off but, it’s been six hours now… but nothing has been found yet.”
Watchstanders with Sector Hampton Roads issued an urgent marine information broadcast before launching a helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City and a 29-foot response boat from Station Milford Haven in Hudgins, Virginia, at 5 p.m.
The Coast Guard was working with boat crews from various fire departments and sheriff’s offices in the area to search for the boy, but the search was called off at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“The decision to suspend a search is a difficult one to make,” said Coast Guard Capt. Rick Wester, commander, Sector Hampton Roads. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the boy’s family during this difficult time.”
