GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — The body of a missing teen was recovered Sunday night, according to Galveston Island Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis.
The discovery was made a day after he was last seen wade fishing off the far western tip of Galveston Island. The teen went missing while fishing near the San Luis Pass Bridge just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Texas EquuSearch helped in the search and recovery efforts.
A helicopter crew spotted the body in an inlet about 300 yards away from where the 17-year-old was fishing.
Davis confirmed that the body matches the description of the missing teen.
“We’re as sure as we can be without the medical examiner making that determination – that this is the same young man that we were missing from last night,” Davis said.
Crews from Freeport, Houston, and Galveston, as well as officers and deputies from Jamaica Beach, Brazoria County, and Galveston helped search for the teen.
Davis said the teen and some friends were fishing in fairly shallow water when he disappeared. Davis said the teen's friends searched for him for a while and then called 911.
“There’s not much worse in this kind of work than telling a family they lost their son,” Davis said.
The teen's body was taken to a local fire station where the medical examiner will pick it up to perform an autopsy.
San Luis Pass, a popular fishing and beach spot, is also notorious for dangerous rip currents due to tidal flows from the Gulf of Mexico and the bay.