Authorities in southwest Iowa say a Nebraska teen drowned over the Memorial Day weekend in a Fremont County pond. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, 16-year-old Brian Vock, of Nebraska City, Nebraska, went swimming with friends Sunday evening in Percival Pond, just off of Highway 2.
When a storm struck at around 7:30 p.m., the group ran for cover and realized that Vock was missing. Dive teams brought in to search the pond, recovered his body somewhere between 30-and 50-feet from shore, at around 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
Authorities said the pond can be a dangerous place in bad weather, because there is a strong undercurrent. In fact, several people drowned there 15 years ago. Vock was reportedly a baseball player and popular student at the Nebraska City High School. He played his last game Saturday.
His school will be open today, from 9 a.m. until noon for students who want to meet with counselors or to just remember their friend. All of his teams’ regular games are canceled this week, but they’ll return to the diamond on Saturday to finish their tournament season without Vock’s number 25 in the outfield.
An autopsy on the teen’s body was scheduled for today at the State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny.