RIPLEY, W.Va. — A 13-year-old Charleston boy drowned Sunday afternoon during a church outing at Parchment Valley Conference Center in Jackson County.
Investigators with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said the boy was with Emmanuel Baptist Church of Charleston when he got into a kayak, which eventually overturned. Authorities said the boy was not wearing a life jacket. Rescue crews searched for the body for several hours and pulled it to the shore Sunday evening.
The boy’s name was not initially released but reports said he was a student at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston and counselors were expected at the school Monday.