17-year old boy drowns after jumping from a cliff at Quarry Park and Nature Preserve near St. Cloud

Stearns County authorities say a 17-year old boy swimming with friends drowned after jumping from a cliff at Quarry Park and Nature Preserve near St. Cloud.

It happened Tuesday afternoon. Dive teams found the boy in 31 feet of water Tuesday night.

Stearns County received a 911 call about a possible drowning at Quarry 11 inside Quarry Park and Nature Preserve, located in the City of Waite Park around 4:20 p.m.

When emergency personnel arrived, witnesses said that a 17-year-old male had jumped off a ten-foot-high cliff, into the water and never resurfaced.

Witnesses attempted to dive into the water but were not able to locate him.

Members of the Stearns/Benton Dive Team, along with the Waite Park and Saint Cloud Fire Departments, deployed boats and started searching the quarry.

Quarry Park and Nature Preserve contains several granite quarries that were shut down in the 1950s. Stearns County purchased the area in 1992 and converted two of them into swimming holes, but it they are not staffed with lifeguards.