Officials ID teen who drowned at Gulf Shores

Authorities have identified Sunday's Gulf Shores beach drowning victim as Fernando Juarez, a Mexican teenager who was staying in Loxley with extended family members.

Juarez was initially thought to be 16, but the Baldwin County coroner's office reported that he was still 15, his birthday not occurring until this summer.

Juarez's parents live in Mexico and it was not clear Monday whether he was visiting relatives in Loxley or had moved to the area, said Darrell Franklin, an investigator with the Gulf Shores Police Department.

Youths his age from Loxley normally would attend Robertsdale High School, but Juarez was not enrolled there, officials said.

Attempts by the Press-Register to locate family members Monday were unsuccessful.

Franklin said Juarez was at the city's main public beach at the end of Alabama 59, called Gulf Place, with his uncle and cousins Sunday when he vanished in the Gulf of Mexico waters at about 3:15 p.m. Sunday.

"He had went out in the Gulf on his skimboard and he was floating on it," Franklin said. "About 15 minutes later, they saw the board floating without him on it."

Family members alerted lifeguards to his disappearance. Soon after, police and firefighters joined in the search. Orange Beach marine officers were also called to the scene in their rescue boat.

About 45 minutes after Juarez disappeared, his body was found by rescuers in the water a short distance from where the skimboard had been spotted, Franklin said.

The surf was calm all weekend at the beach and severe rip currents were not reported, although those may occur at any time.

"One of the family members said he couldn't swim," Franklin said. "We feel like he slipped off his board and panicked."

Juarez's body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Mobile to confirm that drowning was the cause of death, authorities said.

By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter


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