Two Baltimore County teenagers drowned while on a Gunpowder River boating trip to celebrate a friend's graduation, authorities said Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, the teens, ages 17 and 18, were guests of their male teenage friend, his uncle and his adult female cousin on the uncle's boat, said Debi Horne, a public affairs specialist at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The bodies of the two teens, whom authorities did not identify, were found in federal waters off APG.
The young people were celebrating the high school graduation of the friend whose uncle owned the boat, a 19-foot Boston whaler, when the three young men decided about 5 p.m. to go swimming in the river, about 300 yards to 400 yards from Hammerman Beach, Horne said. The area is in the easternmost part of Baltimore County.
After swimming in a strong current, the teens headed toward the boat but one of them got stuck in the current behind the others, Horne said. The two boys swam back to help him. One of the teens went under the water, and the remaining two swam back toward the boat, but only one made it back onto the boat alive, Horne said.
"One made it back to the boat but was exhausted and couldn't get back in," she said. The female cousin at one point tried to assist by extending an oar, Horne said.
The U.S. Coast Guard received the report of swimmers in distress shortly after 5 p.m., officials said. The Coast Guard then notified several agencies, including the Baltimore County and Harford County fire departments, the Baltimore County Police Department, the state Department of Natural Resources Police and the Maryland State Police.
The agencies embarked on a search of the river with air and water patrols. A marine unit from Baltimore County's North Point Edgemere Volunteer Fire Department, which is based at Sparrows Point, found the bodies about 8 p.m. Saturday using sonar equipment, authorities said.
The victims were taken to APG, an Army installation, where an official with the state medical examiner confirmed their deaths.
Autopsies are expected.
Although authorities had not released the teens' names, the parents of 18-year-old Kyle Bianchi said he was one of the victims. His father, Richard Bianchi, did not know the other victim's name.
Richard Bianchi said his son had graduated Saturday from Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School. Though Kyle was taking a course in masonry, Richard Bianchi said his son planned to attend Coppin State College, where he hoped to play baseball and study sports medicine.
Bianchi said his son was athletic -- even scouted by the Kansas City Royals baseball team -- and was a strong swimmer.
Since the teens were found in federal waters, APG's Criminal Investigation Command was handling the investigation, according to APG spokesman George Mercer.
Investigators inspected the boat and found that it contained all the proper lifesaving equipment, such as flotation devices. The investigators did not find any evidence of alcohol on the boat, Horne said.
Though relatives of the victims were notified by the Baltimore County police, the names of the victims were not immediately released to allow time for the families to grieve, according to an APG news release.
Horne said that drownings in the Gunpowder River in the jurisdiction of APG are rare because the military installation regularly patrols the water.
Baltimore Sun reporter Richard Irwin contributed to this article.
