13-Year-Old Boy Dies During Storm
Late Thursday evening a Maplewood boy drowned after falling into a pond fed by storm water. The boy, along with his other three friends, were playing in the creeks and ponds near Battle Creek Regional Park 8:00 p.m. The boy has not yet been identified. The Maplewood Police Department received a call that the boys had been playing around a dam near the park. The victim slipped and fell over the lip of the edge and fell about eight feet into the pond below. According to Maplewood Police Chief David Thomalla, "The boy's friends turned around and heard him call out-and then they just lost sight off him." Immediately following the accident, family members rushed to the scene to witness dive team members searching the pond. The team eventually found the boy's body in 10 feet of water, he had drifted about 50 feet from where he had originally fallen. The officials brought the body onto a rescue boat. No other fatalities or injuries were reported during the storm.