Body of 14-year-old who was swept away while fishing washes ashore

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) – The body of a teenager from Goldsboro, North Carolina was swept away while fishing in the New River Inlet on the Fourth of July.

According to officials with the town of North Topsail Beach, emergency crews responded to the inlet and learned two brothers had waded out into the water about 50 yards.

“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,” town officials said in a statement.

The body of 14-year-old Mainor Perez Velasquez came ashore on the base of Camp Lejeune on Sunday morning.

Mainor’s older brother, Yunior Perez Vasquez, started a GoFundMe to help with expenses.

“We’re going to miss him so much. I’m not sure how we’re going to go through this,” Yunior told WRAL. “It’s hard.”

North Topsail Beach Police Chief William Younginer said Mainor was not the first swimmer to go missing from the area. Younginer said there’s a 30-foot drop-off that swimmers can’t see.

“They witnessed him go down and they didn’t witness him come up anywhere,” Younginer said.

Rip currents and rough waters were also a threat along the Carolina coast throughout the holiday weekend.

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.

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

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