A second body was found at approximately 1:00 a.m. Thursday during a search for twin boys who vanished over the weekend in the water at a pier in Galveston, Texas.
The Galveston Island Beach Patrol said the second body was located near 47th and Seawall Boulevard. The agency’s Lt. Austin Kirwin explained a walker noticed the body near the shoreline, then called 911 to alert officials, KHOU reported Thursday.
Not long after authorities arrived at the scene, they confirmed the boy’s description matched the remaining missing twin’s, and notified the family.
An image shows the twins, Jefferson and Josue Perez, who were both 13-years-old, leaning against each other. The brothers were apparently swimming at Pleasure Pier when they disappeared:
So heartbreaking. Beach patrol is searching for twin brothers Jefferson and Josue Perez, 13. They were swimming near Pleasure Pier in Galveston yesterday afternoon when they went missing. KPRC2 / Click2Houston
Posted by KPRC2 Cathy Hernandez on Monday, March 6, 2023
On Tuesday morning, several people found and pulled a body onto the sand. After calling officials, it was determined the body was one of the twins. His clothing and appearance helped identify him, and officials then called the family to let them know.
However, it remained unclear which of the boys was found.
Officials told Fox 26 when the twins were in the water on Sunday, they were in the waves chest deep and did not know how to swim:
When they disappeared that afternoon, relatives searched for them for approximately one hour before calling police for help.
“They were out in the water. The parents briefly lost sight of them and they looked back up into the area and they did not see them,” Kirwin explained. The boys apparently disappeared while on the pier’s west side.
As several agencies continued looking for the boys, dense fog forced the U.S. Coast Guard’s helicopters to stop their search on Monday. Hours later, police took over the mission.
“Family members said the boys had been begging to go to the beach. They said they had just moved to Houston from Honduras last November to join their mother who moved to the Houston area about 10 years ago,” the KHOU article said.
Video footage shows families at the beach on Monday, however, Kirwin issued a warning and offered safety tips to people in the area:
“You never know what the beach can do, it’s not a pool, it is not safe water even if it looks like it is. So, always swim with a buddy, know how to swim,” he said.
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