EMERALD ISLE, N.C. (WNCN) – Emerald Isle police are reporting they are continuing a search-and-rescue mission Saturday for a Wake Forest teenager who disappeared while swimming at the beach Friday.
UPDATE: Vigil planned after Wake Forest teen drowns, another hospitalized
Ian Frazier Lewis, 18, was swimming Friday afternoon when the incident happened. Carteret County Emergency Communications received a report of two swimmers in distress around 3:50 p.m., a news release said.
A second swimmer, 17-year-old Mary Paige Merical, of Raleigh, was rescued. She was taken to Carteret General Hospital and her condition is unknown, the release said.
The Coast Guard was notified and dispatched a Coast Guard Cutter from Cape Lookout and a helicopter from a station in Elizabeth City.
The Coast Guard searched Friday until 8 p.m. when they ended their efforts, Emerald Isle police said Saturday.
UPDATE: Vigil planned after Wake Forest teen drowns, another hospitalized
However, on Saturday Emerald Isle officials said search efforts were continuing on a local level with Emerald Isle Police and Fire.
Surf conditions reported at the time of the incident were “extremely rough with waves reported at 6-9 feet,” the release said.
