17-Year-Old Found Dead in Gulf of Mexico As Swimming Trip Takes a Dark Turn

In what was intended to be a fun trip for a student traveling from Quebec, Canada to Indian Shores, Florida, an innocent student ended up losing his life. He went missing during an early-morning swim in the Gulf of Mexico with his teammates, which prompted an immediate response from the search and recovery squad.

Later the same day, Florida’s Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the tragic news of the missing teen being found dead. Now all that’s left with the bereaving world is the ongoing investigation, revealing some unnoticed events shared by the police and eyewitnesses.

Swimming adventure takes teen’s life, here’s what happened

William Zhang, 17, and a few other swimming team members participated in the Gulf of Mexico on March 6, 2024, morning when the incident occurred. Before nine in the morning, he was swimming in the ocean with his teammates, however, later did not make it back to land. An eyewitness Rick Ross showed concerns about the squads’ distance from the coast and prompted one adult on shore to call in the group reported the USA Today.

Ross narrated the incident to Fox 13 News, “She waved them all in because she was worried about them being out too far…They all came in. Then she ran up the hill and asked me for the address here. I said, ‘What for?’ She said, ‘There’s still one on the water.’” However, the coaches insisted they had looked for riptides and other hazards during the investigation. A closer look showed turbulent waters with obvious rip currents that made the hours-long rescue challenging.

Authorities arrived in no time; one person even grabbed a surfboard and paddled out to try to help. The swimmers were around 200 yards out, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, who joined the rescue effort. Advocate Nicole Groll cited bad weather during Wednesday’s rescue efforts, but she did not know the circumstances at the time of the incident.

The hours-long search continued…

PCSO conducted search operations jointly with other local departments. In the latter part of the search, Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue Chief, Jeffrey Davidson, shared that while one member of the group was visible in the water, it was challenging to identify the second individual because of the choppy seas and many buoys. “They were a couple of hundred yards off the coast,” Davidson clarified.

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Around 5:2 p.m., the teen was discovered by the Underwater Search and Recovery Team and declared dead. Though, with no signs of suspicion, the investigation is still ongoing.

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