Father Questions Friends' Effort To Save Son From Drowning In Lake

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- More than a dozen friends and peers of a 15-year-old student gathered to mourn his loss after drowning in a Ft. Lauderdale lake.

The body of Fritznel Pierre was pulled from the water Thursday night just west of Federal Highway and north of Sunrise Blvd.

Police said Pierre was swimming with friends in the lake when he got tired and never resurfaced. A day later, Pierre's father, Fritz, stood at the water's edge, wondering just what happened.

"The kids say he got a cramp but the water too deep," said Fritz. "They can't go there. I do not know if they lie or don't lie."

Neighbors watched the tragic event unfold.

"I noticed that there were a group of kinds on a paddle board right here in the middle of the lake, they were saying something about going with the flow of water to see one of their friends had went down," said Joseph Gonzales.

While there were seemingly dozens of people in the lake, nobody could get to the teenager in time.

"The kid came out of the water and said he drowned," said witness Jerry Erado. "My first instinct is go into the water and find him. You're not going to sit there and say okay, our friend drowned. You get in that water and find him."

What haunts the boy's father now was whether or not there was an effort to help.

"How many little kids were there? I want to talk to every little kid who was with him so I can know what happened to him," said Fritz. "Why everyone survives and only he who died in the water?"

Ft. Lauderdale Police are talking with his friends to get a better picture of what happened.