{"id":627,"date":"2026-07-03T15:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/07\/03\/14-year-old-drowns-in-tragic-accident-while-swimming-at-beach-without-flotation-device-police-say\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T15:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:02:11","slug":"14-year-old-drowns-in-tragic-accident-while-swimming-at-beach-without-flotation-device-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/07\/03\/14-year-old-drowns-in-tragic-accident-while-swimming-at-beach-without-flotation-device-police-say\/","title":{"rendered":"14-Year-Old Drowns in \u2018Tragic Accident\u2019 While Swimming at Beach Without Flotation Device, Police Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in Wisconsin said there has been &#8216;multiple drowning related deaths&#8217; in the area since the start of summer<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/fQJk1Fld0ytuUsgsaPVETzEE8xc=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/sandy-beach-park-070326-aee98207c2db46db816136cb37c75411.jpg\" alt=\"Sandy Beach Park in Lake Mills, Wisc.Credit: Google Maps\" title=\"14-year-old drowns while swimming in Wisconsin park\" \/><figcaption><i>Sandy Beach Park in Lake Mills, Wisc.<br \/>Credit: Google Maps<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A 14-year-old boy from Madison, Wis., drowned at Sandy Beach Park despite rescue efforts by first responders<\/li>\n<li>Police said the teen was not wearing a flotation device and called the incident a tragic accident<\/li>\n<li>Authorities urged water safety awareness after multiple drowning deaths in the Jefferson County area this summer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A 14-year-old boy has died after drowning at a Wisconsin beach, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p>The city of Lake Mills Police Department shared in a <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo?fbid=1410792467746960&amp;set=a.217356263757259\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news release<\/a> that the Madison teen \u2014 who was not identified \u2014 died after swimming at Sandy Beach Park in Lake Mills on Sunday, June 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Police said officers received a 911 call about a swimmer who was \u201cmissing\u201d at the location at around 3:20 p.m. When officers and first responders arrived on the scene, authorities determined that the swimmer was last seen in the water and decided to focus search efforts there.<\/p>\n<p>The teen was eventually located underwater by the Lake Mills Dive Team at around 3:50 p.m. Emergency responders on the scene performed CPR and other lifesaving procedures, but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead on the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe victim was not wearing a personal floatation device, and based on witness statements, there is no indication that this was anything other than a tragic accident,\u201d the department said in a statement. \u201cOur thoughts are with the family of the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police said the incident is under investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Following the incident, the police shared a <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lakemillsfire\/posts\/pfbid026i3dJE8xVPHqMtu1drcoW53w9YkNQnoD1TSCAC9Z99LmjetP8LEnpe6SvXKxPa1fl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZbKlfZjPlu22rFSp51adLdGRlVvAcmVF8m_59_DLOiSn-CrbzKrVBYV1h3tdMN6bOR4Zz0Q0gjBfAj35jcpDK8LrTnSproA5nDiVKJg7u9EZKbKojSquptu_6JSXzGF9WxWMLA8rUmuXPcAnPi2xi-a4_Gp95g-kbg_B-sNTL4JJmCoaUGOAYwjlYYPzPjH9_8&amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media post<\/a> noting that the entire Jefferson County area has experienced \u201cmultiple drowning related deaths\u201d since the start of summer and reminded everyone to practice \u201cwater safety\u201d when swimming.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities encouraged parents to \u201cwatch\u201d their kids when they are \u201cin and around water without distraction,\u201d and make sure that they not only know how to swim, but know the five basic \u201cwater survival skills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\">PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n<p>That includes being able to step and jump into water over their head and returning to the surface, floating or treading water for one minute, turning around in a full circle in the water to find an exit and being able to swim at least 25 yards to an exit.<\/p>\n<p>Police stressed that \u201cdrowning is silent\u201d and \u201cquick.\u201d Officials also noted that while swim lessons are essential, \u201cskill varies\u201d and many children who have \u201cdrowned in pools reportedly knew how to swim.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in Wisconsin said there has been &#8216;multiple drowning related deaths&#8217; in the area since the start of summer Sandy Beach Park in Lake Mills, Wisc.Credit: Google Maps NEED TO KNOW A 14-year-old boy from Madison, Wis., drowned at Sandy Beach Park despite rescue efforts by first responders Police said the teen was not wearing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}