Teen Drowns in Lake Mission Viejo

A 17-year-old Lawndale boy drowned Saturday while trying to swim with a friend to an anchored raft in the middle of Lake Mission Viejo, authorities said.

Lifeguards pulled Victor Brown from the water at 4:43 p.m., more than 15 minutes after his companion realized his friend had gone missing, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Kirk Summers.

Paramedics and lifeguards tried to resuscitate Brown, but the youth showed no signs of a pulse or breathing, Summers said. He was rushed to Mission Viejo Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where he was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m., Summers said.

Brown and his friend decided earlier that they should try to swim to a raft anchored about 40 yards from the shore, Summers said. But the two struggled to make it.

“Hey, I’m tired,” Victor reportedly told his colleague as they swam. “I don’t know if I can make it or not.”

The companion replied that he also was exhausted but felt that they should continue struggling toward the raft, Summers said. When the friend reached the floating, wooden raft, he looked back but could not see Victor, Summers said.

Later Saturday afternoon, the private lake returned to normal. Children and adults played on the beach, seemingly unaware of the earlier tragedy.