A 16-year-old boy is dead after drowning in Clear Lake Thursday. A joint news release from the Clear Lake Police Department and Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department says the body of Jerrad Ramon of Clear Lake was located by divers shortly before 8:30 last night.
Four hours earlier, Clear Lake police received a call that a swimmer had gone under the water about 200 yards south of the downtown boat ramp on Main Avenue. On arrival, officers spoke to 14-year-old Larry Luna of Belmond who said he had been swimming with another young man he had just met that afternoon.
They were swimming to a marker buoy and were swimming back when Ramon complained he was in trouble. Luna and other witnesses say the young man waved his arms and went under, not surfacing again. A pair of rescue boats attempted to locate Ramon, with the Iowa Underwater Search and Rescue team based in Mason City called in after an hour.
Ramon’s body was taken to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa where an autopsy will be performed.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City