Another Gulf Coast tragedy: 14-year-old boy missing in waters after father tried to save him
Published 5:39 am Tuesday, May 24, 2022
A Louisiana man said he tried to save his 14-year-old boy from being pulled under by the choppy waters along Orange Beach, Alabama, but the current was too strong for him to hold on.
Now search and rescue crews are hoping to bring closure to the family as they search for the body of the boy who was at the beach celebrating his birthday and recent graduation from a Baton Rouge middle school with his parents and sisters.
Alabama news sources report that emergency crews are looking for the body of Tyreke Walker, 14, who has not been seen since Saturday when he disappeared in the waters off Orange Beach.
Walker had been playing with his siblings in the shallow waters. Soon after, the family saw Walker being pulled out into the ocean and waving for help. The father, Clint Walker, said he went to help his son and was able to grab onto him, but the waves were too strong for him to hold on.
Earlier in the day, the City of Orange Beach Fire Department had issued a “red flag warning,” signaling a “high hazard” level with “high surf and strong currents.” Saturday evening, the department issued a “double red flag” warning, closing the beach to swimmers and warning of “potentially life-threatening rip currents and dangerous surf.”
The incident was one of two tragedies for Louisiana families who were on the Gulf Coast vacationing. On Sunday, a two-year-old from Port Allen drowned in a casino resort pool in Biloxi.