Authorities confirmed that a second body that appeared on the beach in Galveston early Thursday, March 9 was that of a missing 13-year-old twin boy. The body of the first 13-year-old was recovered earlier this week.
A local resident walking along the beach early Thursday morning noticed the body and called 911.
The teens were last seen on Sunday near Pleasure Pier in Galveston when they were swept away. Multiple law enforcement agencies have since been involved in the search efforts. Peter Davis is the Chief of Galveston's Beach Patrol. He said rip currents are responsible for 80% of rescues.
"Why people drown, usually, in rip currents, is they start trying to swim straight towards shore," Davis said. "Against the current they panic, and then they choke on water and they go under. Knowing that, all you have to do is float and relax."
Galveston's Beach Patrol recommends that those who are better swimmers swim parallel to shore and away from breaking waves in these instances.
"Once you hit breaking waves [again], they're only breaking ‘cause the water's shallow," Davis said. "You usually can stand up. And even if you can't, the waves will knock you back to shore."
Davis said open-water drownings have decreased as the public receives more education on what to do when in danger in the water.
Galveston Island Beach Patrol had previously received a call around 2 a.m. Tuesday, March 7 from someone who noticed a body floating near the shoreline. The body matched the description of one of two twin 13-year-old boys who had been reported missing.
Davis said various organizations have been working with the family to provide support after the tragic event.
“It’s this American Dream story. The family came from Honduras, they worked for a couple of years to prepare, and they were able to bring the two twins up from Honduras just recently. A couple of months ago, from what we understand,” Davis said.
Davis said the timing of the tragedy was particularly unfortunate because it happened the weekend before beach patrol starts staffing lifeguards in lifeguard towers.
"We provide emergency response year-round, we do patrols year-round, but there's nothing as effective as a lifeguard in a tower to keep people away from those piers where we always have rip currents," Davis said.