The head of a body that washed up on a popular South Florida beach last week was that of a teenage boy who disappeared in a rip current after saving his younger sister from drowning.
On November 9, Victor Enrique Castaneda Jr., 19, and his sister were swimming off South Point Beach in Miami Beach when they were swept away by a rip current. NBC Miami reported.
Miami Beach police searched for two days before calling off the search effort. Key Biscayne shoreworkers later found the boy's head washed up on the shore Tuesday.
Police and the medical examiner later confirmed the body was that of the heroic teenager. His sister remembers him as “the kindest person” she knew.
“He was a great student. He had a lot of dreams. He was going to join the Navy,” Jessica Castaneda told NBC after he was first reported missing.
Jessica recalled that on the tragic day he went missing, Victor and his sister went into the water around 6pm and were soon caught in a rip current.
The couple screamed for help and two beachgoers were able to pull him out of the water.
“They've been struggling for a long time,” Jessica said. “While my sisters were struggling to escape, he expressed his concerns to my sister. Before the water submerged, he threw my sister because he told her she was going to die. , and that was the last time she saw him. So he died a hero.”
The younger brother, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital for tests and is in good health, NBC previously reported.
Police are investigating the boy's death, but no criminal activity is suspected. police told the Miami Herald.
