A 17-year-old high school athlete with a promising future and a mischievous grin has drowned after jumping from a 10-foot rock into a popular Minnesota swimming spot, authorities said.
Emmanuel Seward Jr. would have been a senior in the fall. An autopsy determined his cause of death on Tuesday was accidental drowning.
Emmanuel Seward Jr. of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Brooklyn Center High School Baseball Team/Facebook
The Stearns County Sheriff's Office released the victim's name Thursday. His body was pulled from the water at Quarry Park and Nature Reserve Tuesday night, authorities said.
First responders answered a 911 call Tuesday afternoon reporting a possible drowning at the state park's Quarry 11, which has a public beach and the water's depth is about 40 feet, according to its website.
Witnesses said Seward jumped from an outcropping, but never came back up. Other swimmers tried to rescue him, but couldn't. It took about four hours for divers to locate his body, authorities said.
"Our little baseball program won't be the same without you," wrote the teen's baseball coach at Brooklyn Center High School, where Seward had recently finished his junior year.
Seward, who also played football, was known as "E-Man."
No matter what happened, Seward would flash that gleeful grin, his coach wrote. And more often than not, he was consuming a bag of cheese-flavored potato chips.
"Sacks the quarterback or cranks a ball into the gap, that smirk. Cheddar Ruffles, smirk," wrote Kevin Pitman, who coaches the Centaurs team. "Joking with friends, smirk. Caused a little mischief, smirk. I will always remember E-Man with that smile on his face and the energy he brings anywhere he goes."
Pitman said he shared a strong connection with his player. "I take solace in knowing that I never hesitated to tell you that I loved you when I'd drop you off after practice," the coach wrote.
A memorial gathering was held Friday on the high school's football field.
"My Centaurs, take it easy, be kind to yourself," coach Pitman concluded in his post. "Give your closest friends and family a big hug, and eat some Cheddar Ruffles for E-Man."
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