VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A 12-year-old boy was found dead after going missing while swimming Sunday morning.
The Virginia Beach Police Department and the Coast Guard were searching the water near Shore Drive.
According to the Coast Guard, the boy, identified as Zamari Wilson, was last seen around 10:30 a.m. swimming in the water near the Delta Marriott in the 2800 block of Shore Drive. Police say he was there visiting Virginia Beach with his family and staying at the Delta Marriott.
Petty Officer Kimberly Reaves with U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic told News 3 that divers from one of the agencies involved in the search located the boy dead Sunday morning.
The agency launched two 29-foot response boats from Coast Guard Station Little Creek, as well as a M-H 60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
Footage captured by a News 3 viewer in the area Sunday afternoon showed a Coast Guard helicopter circling the area.
News 3 viewers Dawn and Tim Peebles shared a video of the search below:
We spoke with one man who lives on the beach that saw the search and rescue work and he has a message for folks coming to the beach.
"He probably got pulled out a little bit because where they found him as well. Who knows where he got pulled out, he could have run 20-30 yards east, west up and down, and again it's a horrible tragedy," Onofrio Margioni said. "But there's got to be better awareness of the water and there are no lifeguards here and I don't know if that would have mattered frankly because there's so many people in the water."
Shortly after Zamari's drowning, a 44-year-old man drowned nearby on Shore Drive. The drownings are not related.
