Currituck County officials requested USCG assistance Saturday afternoon after a 13-year-old boy was reportedly swept under the water by a rip current near Corolla.
COROLLA, N.C. — The body of a teenage boy who was pulled underwater off the coast of the Outer Banks over the weekend has been recovered.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Coast Guard told 13News Now that Currituck County officials requested USCG assistance at around 1 p.m. Saturday, after a 13-year-old boy was reportedly swept under the water by a rip current near Corolla. The county had asked for the Coast Guard to deploy an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to aid in a search for the missing teen in the water.
Currituck canceled the request for assistance from the Coast Guard around 4 p.m., telling the Coast Guard lifeguards would continue the search along the beach and shoreline.
Currituck County’s Chief of Fire-EMS, Ralph Melton, confirms to 13News Now the teen drowned in the ocean and his body was recovered a few hours later.
Officials have not publicly identified the boy at this time.
It is believed to be the second reported drowning on the Outer Banks in recent days. A South Carolina man died after his kayak capsized at Cape Hatteras National Seashore on July 20.