Everett boy, 16, drowns in lake near Smokey Point

SMOKEY POINT — A 16-year-old Everett boy drowned in a lake near Smokey Point on Tuesday.

He was swimming at Gissberg Twin Lakes with a friend and didn’t make it back to shore, said Lt. David Bowman with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy disappeared around 2 p.m. Witnesses said the boy had become caught in weeds. His friend then lost sight of him.

Crews found the boy’s body about an hour later.

Bowman said that even peaceful waters can be treacherous under good conditions. On Tuesday, the lake water was 82 degrees.

Gissberg Twin Lakes Park west of I-5 houses a loaner life jacket station. The life jackets are available for swimmers of all ages to borrow. There are 10 stations at swimming areas throughout the county, mostly lakes.

A 19-year-old man drowned while swimming at Twin Lakes in 2013. Bystanders pulled another man, 36, from the lake in 2015. The man survived.

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