Teens who drowned at Webster Parish lake identified

WEBSTER PARISH, La. (KSLA) - Authorities have identified two teens who drowned Sunday evening in Webster Parish. According to Sheriff Gary Sexton, the incident happened shortly after 7 p.m. at Caney Lake when the victims jumped off of a pier at a boat ramp to go swimming.

Upon arriving on the scene, three deputies immediately stripped off their gear then jumped into the water, attempting to save Cartavious Cox, 15 and DeVondrick Seamster, 17.

Minden Fire Department divers arrived a short time later and were able to help locate them, within 30 minutes.

One mother came to the scene.

Cox and Seamster may not have known how to swim and were unaware how deep the water was. Officials say the pier goes out about 30 feet into the lake and is considerably deeper at the point where they jumped.

They were with friends at the time. The area was not marked safe to swim.

This is an ongoing investigation.

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