14-year-old Texas teenager Kaden Forke dies after falling off a boat that lost control on Lake Austin
- The body of missing teenager Kaden Forke was recovered from Lake Austin Monday after a boating accident, days before he was due to start high school
- Forke was on a boat with six other people when it lost control when it ran over the wake of another boat and crashed into an embankment
- Four other people were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries
The body of missing teenager Kaden Forke was recovered from Lake Austin Monday night after a boating accident, officials confirmed.
The 14-year-old died just days before he was due to start his freshman year at Lake Travis High School.
Forke was on a boat with six other people when it lost control when it ran over the wake of another boat and crashed into an embankment.
Four other people were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries.
The Lake Patrol unit and dive team from APD, Lake Med EMS, the Austin Fire Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began an extensive search and recovery operation, but unfortunately Forke was pronounced dead at the scene.
14-year-old Kaden Forke died just days before he was due to start his freshman year at Lake Travis High School
The Lake Patrol unit and dive team from APD, Lake Med EMS, the Austin Fire Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began an extensive search and recovery operation, but unfortunately Forke was pronounced dead at the scene
Forke was on a boat with six other people when it lost control when it ran over the wake of another boat and crashed into an embankment
At a news conference Monday, Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Darren Noak said, “With a lake as narrow as it is, it gets very crowded very quickly.”
“There are many cross currents and many cross waves. So if you just plow down the lake as fast as your boat, you could have an accident.”
Adding, “Even if you drive slowly, you can have an accident.”
A witness at the lake, James Wood, told Fox 7: “It looked like a large cypress tree had been cut about in half at the thickest point and the boat was hanging in its branches above.”
“The wreck had just happened and there was already a dive team on site who told me there was likely someone missing or underwater,” he told the outlet.
Forke attended Hudson Bend Middle School and was a member of the Audio Visual Production/Broadcast program.
In a statement, the principal of Lake Travis Elementary School said Forke’s loss was a “tragic loss to our school community.”
“Kaden is what we call the ‘LT Lifer.'” He began his academic career as a preschooler at Lake Travis Elementary.
Forke, photo with his family in May before the tragedy struck
At a news conference Monday, Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Darren Noak said, “With a lake that narrow, it gets very crowded very quickly.”
“In May, Kaden graduated from the eighth grade at Hudson Bend Middle School, where he competed in track and field and was a member of the audiovisual production/broadcast program.
“His mother, Jennifer, is currently working as an observer at LTE,” the statement said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help Mai with funeral and memorial expenses and had raised nearly $30,000 by Friday night.