Officials identify body of teen that went missing in North Topsail Beach, washed ashore at Camp Lejeune

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. (WECT) - 14-year-old Mainor Perez Velasquez from Goldsboro was swept away while fishing in the New River Inlet on Thursday, according to North Topsail Beach.

His body came ashore on the base of Camp Lejeune on July 7.

Per a release from the town, emergency crews responded to the inlet on Thursday, July 4.

“Upon arrival, units were notified that two brothers had waded out into the water of New River Inlet, approximately 50 yards out. The brothers were fishing when the 14-year-old male was swept away and was yelling for help. Witnesses in the area reported that a boat was near and assisted by pulling one brother into the boat,” the release states.

One of the brothers made it to shore and told authorities that the other had gone under.

It has not been the outcome search crews had hoped for, says North Topsail Beach Police Chief William Younginer.

“It becomes personal to us. We don’t want to lose anybody” Younginer said.

Younginer says it’s not the first time a swimmer has gone missing from the area. He says there’s a 30-foot drop-off that swimmers can’t see.

This is a large effort with several departments now involved. The North Topsail Beach Fire Rescue and the Coast Guard are performing a search by helicopter and boat. The Police Department is using a drone to search.

“They witnessed him go down and they didn’t witness him come up anywhere,” Younginer said. “At this point, we’re pretty sure it would just be a recovery operation ... finding a body.”

While crews searched Thursday, four other rescue calls came in, one of which required transporting a patient to the hospital. Crews searched until late in the day on July 4 and resumed Friday morning.

“You got to plan for those rip currents. You got to train for them,” Younginer said.

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