A 15-year-old student is presumed to have drowned after going missing Tuesday night while on a field trip in Algonquin Park.
The parents of Jeremiah Perry rushed to Algonquin Park Wednesday morning in a taxi cab after learning the terrifying news. They were met by the OPP at the park’s West Gate.
Provincial police say the Toronto student was swimming in Big Trout Lake, deep in the park interior, when he went under water and didn’t resurface. This was at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
His body was found by search and rescue crews late Wednesday afternoon.
Perry’s parents were informed later that night by their son’s principal that he was missing.
"They got the search party to start but they called it off because it was getting dark," Jennifer Anderson, Perry’s stepmother told CTV Toronto. "At the moment, the police officer has mentioned to us that he was presumed under recovery. We are hopeful that we are going to find him."
Perry’s family was later informed that three lifeguards were watching 22 swimmers at the time Perry went missing.
"How is that possible for him to drown right in front of three lifeguards," she asked.
A spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board says 38 children and six adults left for the trip on Sunday.
The board says students had “appropriate supervision.”
“There would have been swim tests prior to the trip beginning and that’s just part of the TDSB approach to trips of this nature,” spokesperson Ryan Bird says.
The trip was originally set to wrap up on Friday, but the school board has decided to send students home early.
“We notified all parents last night to make sure they knew what had happened and to let them know that their children would be coming home early as they portage out of Algonquin to the most immediate pickup point that we can get to them with buses."
Efforts are being made to airlift students out of the Big Trout Lake area, which is not accessible by road, and back to the Highway 60 corridor.
With files from CTV Toronto.
