Boy vanishes swimming with friends and is found dead in PA river, officials say
A Pennsylvania family is mourning the death of a 12-year-old boy who disappeared in a river while swimming with friends, according to news outlets.
Just before 11 a.m. May 17, a group of kids called 911 after their friend disappeared in the Monongahela River in Donora while they were swimming, WPXI reported.
“Today your volunteers responded to a very difficult call. A call no one wants to ever go on,” the Donora Fire Company said in a Facebook post.
Multiple agencies responded and a began searching for the boy.
Divers and boats were used in the rescue effort and after several hours of searching, the boy’s body was recovered, according to a Facebook post by Murrysville Medic One Dive Team.
The boy’s body was found along a riverbed around 3:30 p.m., according to WTAE. The Washington County Coroner identified the boy as 12-year-old Rontae Lester.
Family members remembered him as an “awesome kid,” KDKA reported.
“He was probably one of the politest kids you would ever know,” Dennis Hawkins Jr., the father of Rontae’s cousin, told the news outlet. “Soft-spoken, loved to play video games, cared for his younger siblings.”
Darrick Gerano, the administrative director of Murrysville Medic One Dive Team, told WPXI the current and debris floating around were the “biggest challenge” during the search.
Donora is about a 25-mile drive southeast from Pittsburgh.
This story was originally published May 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Boy vanishes swimming with friends and is found dead in PA river, officials say."
