FORT SMITH -- A 17-year-old Fort Smith boy drowned Saturday afternoon while trying to swim across the Mulberry River at Bluff Hill Park east of Mulberry.
Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the boy, whom he would not identify, was swimming at the park with some friends about 3:30 p.m. They were swimming across the 100-foot-wide river from the park to bluffs on the other side when the teenager began having difficulty as he neared the bluff side.
His friends tried to help the boy, but he was dragging them under, Gregory said. Gregory estimated the water was 10 to 12 feet deep where he drowned.
Mulberry police, Mulberry volunteer firefighters, Crawford County sheriff's deputies, the sheriff's dive team and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officers responded to the call for help, Gregory said.
He said divers went into the water about 5:40 p.m. and found the teenager's body about 6 p.m. His body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy, Gregory said.
NW News on 05/05/2015