Two teenage stepbrothers found dead after going swimming at a spot in Sanford, Maine, were found holding onto each other.
According to reports, the tragic incident unfolded in July last year, when Tavayne Weir, 17, and his stepbrother, D’andre Graham,16, told their family they were going swimming at the Springvale Recreation Area.
The area is a popular spot where swimmers are known to make daredevil leaps from a 30-foot cliff into the water. Lifeguards are on duty during the day.
When the teenagers didn’t return home for their 10 p.m. curfew, their parents called the authorities. The police found the boys’ car at the area at around 11 p.m., but there was no other trace of Tavayne and D’andre.
The fire department was promptly called to assist with the search. After an hour and a half, they found the bodies of Tavayne and D’andre submerged underwater.
“Using flashlights and high intensity lights, they were able locate them below the water,” Major Matthew Gagne, with the Sanford Police Department, told WMTW.
“We don’t know if they were jumping or just swimming because we don’t know exactly what time they went in. We assume they were probably by themselves as well because we had no calls from that area that anybody was in distress or actively drowning.
“There was probably a one- or two-mile-an-hour current, too, so that can change where they were located.”
The loss of the boys will, of course, have been unfathomable to their family, but perhaps a small grain of solace can be taken from the fact that they were found holding onto each other.
On a GoFundMe page established by the family to help pay for funeral expenses read: “They showed incredible courage and loyalty, holding on to each other until the very end, demonstrating the deep bond they shared.”
The fundraiser added that Tavayne and D’andre “always considered each other brothers, and when their parents Kerryan and Morris got married last year, it made their brother bond official.”
“They were more than stepbrothers; they were true brothers to each other. Growing up in Jamaica, they did everything together, from playing basketball and riding bikes to gaming,” it read.
Rest in peace, Tavayne and D’andre.
