unfknblvble
12-09-2002, 07:52 PM
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unfknblvble
My prayer's go out to them.Two teens die in Gulf after water craft becomes disabled
The Associated Press
HUDSON-- Two teenage boys were found dead, apparently of hypothermia after their personal watercraft suffered mechanical trouble, officials said.
The bodies of Jason Lewis and Zachary Lukas, both 16 and students at Hernando High School, were discovered by a commercial fisherman Sunday morning after searchers combed 772 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico over the previous 10 hours in a futile effort to rescue the boys.
Lewis and Lukas left on a Polaris watercraft around 1 p.m. Saturday, but were stranded in the 60-degree waters after their water craft developed some sort of mechanical problem, officials said.
Investigators found ropes and a crushed crab trap from the water craft's intake mechanism, indicating the machine stalled, officials said.
Both boys were wearing life vests and foul play was not suspected, said Clyde Jordan of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"It's every parent's nightmare that they lose their child," said Chad Lewis, Jason Lewis' father.
Lukas was a standout on Hernando's soccer team and also ran cross country, friends and coaches said.
Hudson is 33 miles northwest of Tampa
The Associated Press
HUDSON-- Two teenage boys were found dead, apparently of hypothermia after their personal watercraft suffered mechanical trouble, officials said.
The bodies of Jason Lewis and Zachary Lukas, both 16 and students at Hernando High School, were discovered by a commercial fisherman Sunday morning after searchers combed 772 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico over the previous 10 hours in a futile effort to rescue the boys.
Lewis and Lukas left on a Polaris watercraft around 1 p.m. Saturday, but were stranded in the 60-degree waters after their water craft developed some sort of mechanical problem, officials said.
Investigators found ropes and a crushed crab trap from the water craft's intake mechanism, indicating the machine stalled, officials said.
Both boys were wearing life vests and foul play was not suspected, said Clyde Jordan of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"It's every parent's nightmare that they lose their child," said Chad Lewis, Jason Lewis' father.
Lukas was a standout on Hernando's soccer team and also ran cross country, friends and coaches said.
Hudson is 33 miles northwest of Tampa
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12-09-2002, 08:22 PM
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I wonder if they tried to swim for shore. They shouldhave stayed with the vessel and waited. You can survive from exposure much longer than Hypothermia. There was no talk of abandoning the vessel but that would make sense. Not like this tragic accident makes any sense. Stay with your vessel at all costs. Remember the Perfect Storm? The ones who survivrd stayed with the vessel.
12-09-2002, 08:25 PM
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Very sad indeed they were so young.
12-09-2002, 08:49 PM
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Very sad for all families involved, especially at this time of year. This story hits home, I have one daughter at the same age.
