Missing teenage swimmer’s body recovered at Port Stanley: Police

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Two days after a teenage swimmer went missing, provincial police have recovered a body from Lake Erie, according to the organizer of an online fundraiser launched in support of the 14-year-old’s family.

The fundraising page states the family was told that a body was found near Port Stanley’s main beach Tuesday afternoon – more than 48 hours after a London teen visiting the beach with his family went under and didn’t resurface. A family friend identifies the boy as Omer Buz.

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“What started as a beautiful family outing to the beach of Port Stanley . . . ended in tragedy for a young immigrant family new to London,” the organizer writes, adding that after the body’s recovery “the family is completely devastated.”

Late Tuesday, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed it is the missing 14-year-old’s body that has been recovered.

It was about 2:30 p.m. Sunday when two brothers, 14 and 17, waded into the surf and began struggling. Their father made a desperate attempt to save them, a family friend said, and lifeguards were able to save the dad and older boy.

The friend told The Free Press the missing boy, who he identified only as Omer, had recently graduated Grade 8 from London’s Emily Carr elementary school and planned to attend Mother Teresa secondary school this fall. His family moved here from Syria one year ago, the friend said.

Local fire officials confirmed a body was recovered Tuesday afternoon. As word spread, it prompted an outpouring of condolences on social media.

“So so sorry to the family. R.I.P. Now they can have closure,” wrote Diana Freeman-Francis.

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Janice Burns, another Facebook user, wrote: “Prayers first off go out to the family in the loss of their son. I would like to thank the recovery team who worked so very hard to recover the boy (and) to all volunteers who also helped.”

Drownings are rare at Port Stanley but not unheard of.

In July 2016, Ingersoll native William Johnston, 18, drowned, though lifeguards saved a woman he was with at the beach. “It was so hard getting through the undertow,” a volunteer searcher said at the time.

His drowning was the first at the main beach since August 2004, when Mitchell Temple-Medhurst, 8, went under during a supervised outing with other children from Madame Vanier Children’s Services in London

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the correct spelling of the swimmer’s name

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