Death of Teen Found in Channel Is Probed
Sheriff’s deputies are continuing to investigate the death of a Marina High School junior whose body was found partially submerged in a drainage channel but so far have found no sign of foul play, authorities said Tuesday.
The body of Phillip Lawrence, 16, of Huntington Beach was found Sunday morning by a jogger in the East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel, near the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. The teenager had been reported missing the previous day by his parents, Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.
“It appears to be an accident,” Wilkerson said. “He somehow had fallen into the channel.”
Investigators are waiting for results of toxicology and other tests to help them determine a cause of death.
Lawrence transferred to Marina from Huntington Beach High School in February and was a good student with a keen interest in math and computers, school officials said.
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