12-year-old drowns on family fishing day as dad struggles to save him, Florida cops say

A dad was trying to swim with his 12-year-old son to safety in rough lake waters when the boy slipped away and drowned, Florida authorities said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd shared on March 20 that search efforts on Lake Roy had led them to the body of Noah Gomez.

The dad took his two sons, ages 9 and 12, as well as his 10-year-old nephew, out on a boat for a day of fishing, the sheriff told news outlets.

The boys wanted to swim and jumped in the lake, but they began to struggle right away in the rough waters, Judd said. The dad managed to get the two younger boys back into the boat as his 12-year-old son was drifting away, according to the sheriff.

“So he jumped into the water, put Noah on his back and was doing his best to swim back to the boat. It was drifting away from him,” Judd said. “Noah slipped off of his dad’s back into the water, into about 18 or 19 feet of water.”

One of the boys called 911 from the boat, and first responders arrived quickly, as the dive team was out training that day, Judd said. They recovered the boy’s body in about two hours.

“Our hearts break because dad was doing what dads should do, spend time with their children,” Judd said.

The sheriff mentioned the boys were strong swimmers, but winds were gusting up to 30 mph that day.

Lake Roy is a roughly 70-acre lake in Winter Haven, about a 50-mile drive east from Tampa.

This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 10:45 AM with the headline "12-year-old drowns on family fishing day as dad struggles to save him, Florida cops say."