Cape teen dies after riptide incident in North Carolina

CAPE GIRARDEAU (SMNS) -- A Cape Girardeau teenager died Tuesday night while on a trip with his church group.

Marvin T. Scott, 16, died after swimming in the ocean on a North Carolina coast during a church retreat. At 7:30 p.m., Emerald Isle Police, Fire and EMS units were sent to the area of 7017 Ocean Drive for a water rescue, according to a news release.

Police on the scene reported the water was rough and that a rip current was observed in the area where the drowning occurred, a news release from Emerald Isle Police stated. Police interviewed witnesses who said the victim and other teens were swimming when two teens were hit by a large wave and were carried out by rip current.

Another 13-year-old with the group was rescued by bystanders.

Emerald Isle Fire and Rescue personnel launched a jet ski to begin rescue operations in the area where Scott was last seen. At 7:59 p.m., Scott was found 40 to 50 yards offshore in rough surf and was brought to shore, where he was unresponsive, the release stated.

Paramedics said they revived the victim, and he was alive and had a pulse when a marine helicopter transported him to Greenville, North Carolina. Police later learned from hospital staff Scott died while being treated at the hospital.

"The entire Town of Emerald Isle extends its deepest sympathy to the Scott family and the church group visiting Emerald Isle," city manager Frank Rush said in a statement to the Carteret County News-Times newspaper.