U.S. Coast Guard Searching For Mansfield Ninth Grader
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MANSFIELD (CBSDFW.COM) – The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 16-year-old Mansfield student who was last seen in the rough Gulf of Mexico waters.
The missing Lake Ridge High School ninth grader was in Corpus Christi for the SkillsUSA state competition, which is a contest of occupational skills.
News of his disappearance spread quickly through campus.
"Social media and twitter obviously blew up in prayers and condolences," said student Diego Mendoza.
Parent David Ward said his son was one of five students standing chest deep in the gulf, when the missing freshman "went under".
"He told me there had been an incident. But didn't really give any details, but he said that they were essentially being told they didn't want him to say what happened," said Ward, who added they're trying to piece together what happened form new reports.
"I tried to call the school -- no answer," said Ward. "I tweeted out asking could you give the parents some information? Nothing," said Ward.
Mansfield Superintendent Dr. Jim Vaszauskas eventually sent out a letter to parents Friday afternoon, which read in part:
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the student's family as the rescue crews continue their search efforts. The Mansfield ISD community is doing everything we can at this time to provide comfort and assistance to the family and to our students. The other students at the SkillsUSA state competition will be returning back home as quickly as possible in order to reunite them with their families. We will continue to monitor and assess the situation.
The district has cut short the trip so that families may reunite with students as soon as possible.
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