Rescuers find body of 3rd student in sea

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica

Costa Rican rescuers on Friday found the body of a third U.S. high school student who was swept out to sea while taking a beach break during a religious mission.

A coast guard patrol recovered the body of Kai Lamar in waters off Bejuco beach on the Pacific coast, said Jesus Escalona, Red Cross assistant director of operations. The bodies of the other two students, Caity Jones and James Smith, were found earlier this week.

A strong undertow pulled the three away from shore Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement from their school, Patriot Preparatory Academy in Columbus, Ohio. They were among eight juniors and seniors on a trip not sponsored by the school.

Escalona said the body was found in roughly the same area where Smith’s body was recovered a day earlier. He said the body fit Lamar’s description, and rescuers called off the search.

The bodies were taken to a morgue where relatives or U.S. Embassy officials can claim them. The U.S. Embassy has declined to comment, citing privacy restrictions.

Wednesday, the day before they were to return to Ohio, was a free day, and students were given a choice of whether they wanted to ride horses near a waterfall or go to the beach, the brother of one of the students told an Ohio television station.

“Unfortunately, it was just a fatal mistake,” Smith’s brother Nick Smith told WCMH-TV in Columbus.

He said the trip was the first mission for his brother and that he had worked to raise every penny needed to pay for the trip.

“That kid was more driven to do things for God than I’ve seen anybody at his age ever. ... He was doing things and so committed that honestly, in 16 years, he finished everything he needed to do in this life,” Smith told the station.

A message seeking comment was left by The Associated Press on Friday at a phone listing for Smith’s parents.

The three students swept away, all juniors, were described as active in school and the community, well-liked and good students.

The mission was organized by Ohio-based Impulse International Mission Trips, where a spokeswoman said no one could comment Friday. The students visited an orphanage, a drug-rehabilitation center and some villagers, according to a post by Lamar on a blog the group was keeping on the trip. The group also played soccer, colored and read with youngsters at a community center and did some painting at a Salvation Army church.