A teenager is dead after he went missing while swimming with his family Saturday at a beach in Winchester, Massachusetts.
State police confirmed they responded to Shannon Beach in the Upper Mystic Lakes for a missing male swimmer. According to their preliminary investigation, the 17-year-old was swimming with several family members, when he and one other relative went out well past the safe swimming barriers.
According to police, the teen was approximately 100 yards offshore, outside the swim zone, when the other swimmer he was with realized he was no longer visible at the surface.
The boy's family called 911 while they attempted to search for him.
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State police patrols, specialized units, detectives, Massachusetts Environmental Police and other local public safety partners all responded to the lake, including Medford and Winchester police departments.
The boy's body was later recovered by divers with the Stoneham Fire Department in about six feet of water near the place where he was last seen, police said.
He was identified Sunday at Luis Tejeda, of Lynn.
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Foul play is not suspected, police said. An official cause of death is pending.
According to police, the beach has no lifeguards after 6 p.m.
Sandy Beach was renamed the Sen. Charles E. Shannon, Jr. Memorial Beach many years ago. Shannon Beach is a popular spot for freshwater swimming at Mystic Lakes State Park, according to the state's website. There were at least two drownings there last July, including a 56-year-old Chelsea man and a 52-year-old man from Lynn.
A man who lives in the neighborhood told NBC Boston the beach and its lack of supervision is a real problem.
"Every year we have someone die at this beach, every single year," said Hany Fares. "It's horrible."
"It's not deep. It cannot happen by accident every single year, the same way," he added.
Fares noted that authorities keep things like the parking situation well-controlled but he doesn't notice the same level of focus at the beach itself.
"The park looks fabulous, but people are still dying," he said, calling it ridiculous. "Supervision. We need supervision, or close the beach and find a way to open it safe. What's the point? You organize everything around the beach outside and nobody's able to park anywhere, but inside the beach there's nothing. OK you build a nice bathroom, nothing else, people still dying."
Fares said that he used to come to the beach with his family but they have stopped coming, calling it "a shame."
"I will not come to this beach, I feel so sad when I see things like this, it's sad, there's nothing to say but sad, it's sad," he said. "We're going to move on and nothing's going to happen after that and life is going to go on, nothing. They might close the beach for a week, after that, nothing will move, until we do something about it. And this area here is not under Winchester police, it's under state police and you see them a lot but never at the beach."
"I don't want anyone to die," he added. "People come to the beach to have fun and enjoy, that's all I want. I want supervision, real supervision, not someone who is 16 years old on the phone."
Susan Sheehan emailed NBC Boston to say it was no surprise that there was another death on Mystic Lake, adding that local residents have been complaining for years about the situation.
"Everyone is aware...no one does anything," she wrote.
