Local News
Avon Park boy, 17, drowned Friday in surf
Highlands Today
Published: September 22, 2012
NEW SMYRNA BEACH The body of a 17-year-old Highlands County boy was recovered in the surf around 7 p.m. Friday, 50 miles northeast of Orlando.Published: September 22, 2012
Volusia County Beach Patrol found J.J. Branchedor, who went missing in the surf, Capt. Tammy Marris told the Orlando Sentinel.
The boy was on a field trip with Seminole County's Forest Lake Academy when he disappeared about 4:30 p.m. He and other students had been swimming in an area with no lifeguards, the beach patrol said.
He was a Walker Memorial Academy student in Avon Park, where he had played softball on their Braves team.