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Message
Teen drowns at White Sands Lake Day Beach on July 4
Posted on 7/6/25 at 4:50 pm
Posted on 7/6/25 at 4:50 pm
Wwltv
They aren't releasing many details yet. This is really sad. We were just there and it was very crowded. I can see how it would be hard to keep an eye on everyone. I can't imagine what his parents are going through.
Witness account Wwltv
Nola.com
So is this a spring fed lake as the website claims, or is it an old gravel pit?
quote:
BOGALUSA, La. — One person is dead after a reported drowning at White Sands Lake Day Beach in Bogalusa on July 4, according to the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office. The incident was reported around 11:53 a.m. When deputies arrived they said the "young man" was deceased. Authorities did not confirm the victim's age but said he was 15 or 16 years old. The victim's identity has not been released
They aren't releasing many details yet. This is really sad. We were just there and it was very crowded. I can see how it would be hard to keep an eye on everyone. I can't imagine what his parents are going through.
Witness account Wwltv
quote:
Joseph Ford was on the beach when the tragedy unfolded. He describes the panic that broke out across the Bogalusa beach after the boy was pulled from the water.
quote:
“I was watching and praying,” Ford said. “I couldn’t take my eyes off that young man." Ford says there didn’t appear to be a lifeguard on duty at the time. “That’s when the chaos started, and everyone knew what was happening,” Ford said. When the ambulance finally arrived, Ford says it got stuck in the sand. “We had forty or fifty people trying to push it out of the sand,” Ford said. Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office didn’t confirm the boys age, but said he was around 16 years old. We reached out to White Sands Lake Day Beach for comment and are waiting to hear back from them.
Nola.com
quote:
Bystanders performed CPR when the boy was pulled from the water, according to Speakman and a witness who described the scene to The Times-Picayune. He was taken to a local hospital, where authorities said he was pronounced dead. Authorities are not releasing the 16-year-old's identity because he is a juvenile, and Speakman referred additional questions to the private company that runs the beach site. A person who responded to a phone number listed for company Sunday declined to comment. A pair of witnesses who saw the teen pulled from the water, and were present for the response afterward, described a chaotic scene, as bystanders frantically searched for the teen in the water and an ambulance became bogged down in the beach sand. Cherie Courseault Trumbach, who was visiting with a group of children from her St. Tammany Parish church congregation, said her group had been on the beach for about 45 minutes when she noticed "what looked like an intense situation."
quote:
A group of bystanders, she realized, were searching for someone who had disappeared under the water. Then, she said, a man suddenly emerged from the water "carrying the limp body of teenage boy." Several minutes passed, during which Courseault Trumbach said staff for the beach company seemed to be trying to decide what to do. The staff are not lifeguards, though they are CPR-trained, according to the company's website. "They didn’t seem to have any emergency equipment," Courseault Trumbach said. White Sands Lake Day Beach's website warns visitors that they are responsible for any risk that comes from entering the water. "Our staff members are certified in CPR but are NOT lifeguards," the website reads. "The staff members are stationed along the water front and are tasked with watching the water for fair and safe play."
quote:
Located roughly midway between Bogalusa and Franklinton, White Sands Lake Day Beach is a privately run swimming hole in an old gravel pit. The water along the lake's shoreline is "shallow," according to a "frequently asked questions" page on the beach company's website. It reaches a depth of about 18 feet just beyond a set of large inflatable water toys about a dozen yards from the sandy beach, the website says. In all, Courseault Trumbach estimated 40-50 minutes passed between when bystanders began searching for the child under the water and when the ambulance drove off the beach. "I have images that I don’t know that I will ever get out of my head," she said. "Some of our kids, unfortunately, do as well.”
So is this a spring fed lake as the website claims, or is it an old gravel pit?
This post was edited on 7/6/25 at 10:23 pm
8
Posted on 7/6/25 at 4:57 pm to Misnomer
From what I’ve read, the “lifeguards” are useless and there’s been other incidents where guests helped out. I went once a few years ago just to check it out. The time it took me to get there, I could have been been MS gulf coast. Or close. I saw a comment it is a dug lake out of a quarry? And if so, dangerous bc of chemicals etc left behind / still there. Sad situation for that family.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 4:57 pm to Misnomer
We went a couple times several years ago and that was enough for me. That water gets deep quickly because it’s just a gravel pit, also anyone 16 and under was required to wear a life jacket while in the water. The couple times we went lifeguards were on duty and they were strict about the life jackets, however they were probably packed with people.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:02 pm to Misnomer
That honestly looks nicer than I would expect for Bogalusa.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:04 pm to Jim Rockford
reminds me of thunderbird beach
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:10 pm to Dixie2023
quote:
saw a comment it is a dug lake out of a quarry?
I thought it was spring fed, but I could be wrong. I've been twice and was really happy with it. The water is clean and feels great. My teen is a strong swimmer and does not wear a vest, but I could see how an accident like this could happen. I'd rather go again when it's not as crowded. Kids jump off one right after the other, although the "whistling guards" do try to make them go one at a time more safely. Someone could've jumped onto the kid while he was under and knocked him unconscious. It is exhausting climbing up and down the inflatables. It's easy to miss someone on the other side struggling. I'm sure more details will come out or someone will find it on Facebook and post it here.
I figured there would be a lot of comments blasting the lake owners. I hope they don't have to close it down, but there might be some things they could do to make it safer. Like making sure there is at least one real lifeguard that knows CPR (they may already have one) and offering life jackets for free instead of having people rent them. I know the older teenagers may resist wearing them, but at least they can say they offered them to everyone.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:12 pm to Misnomer
This is awesome, my daughter is there right now…
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:16 pm to Misnomer
That’s gravel pit country in that part of Washington Parish. This also isn’t the first time someone has drowned at White Sands.
This post was edited on 7/6/25 at 5:17 pm
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:21 pm to Misnomer
I do not know. Someone commenting on an article was insisting it is a dredged lake and that dredged lakes are dangerous. I can’t recall if he said quarry or when I google to see why a dredged lake is so bad it mentioned quarries. I feel like he said it and I googled dredged quarries. It was late and I was tired. I didn’t care for it bc it was crowded and just felt closed in. I prefer the real beach.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:23 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
That honestly looks nicer than I would expect for Bogalusa.
It's actually a nice swimming hole...a spring fed lake, not connected to any other body of water. These days it's hard to find fun things for the older teens to do in the summertime, and this is a fun place to go for them to spend energy on a hot afternoon. It's a tragedy and I hope they can find ways to improve safety and stay open for everyone.
ETA they advertise it as a spring-fed lake, but not unlikely it has been dredged and altered, especially in the swimming area.
This post was edited on 7/6/25 at 5:27 pm
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:30 pm to Dixie2023
quote:
From what I’ve read, the “lifeguards” are useless and there’s been other incidents where guests helped out.
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt comforted by the sight of a lifeguard. I feel like it’s my responsibility to be safe. As a last resort, they can certainly be helpful, but other guests might be closer to the situation and actually see a body go under on a crowded day.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:37 pm to TexasTiger08
I was a certified lifeguard as a teenager, which means I knew basic first aid, had demonstrated proficiency in all the swimming strokes, and had "rescued" the instructor while he pretended to fight me. Nothing bad ever happened on any of my shifts. Truthfully I don't know how I would have dealt with a real crisis.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:47 pm to Jim Rockford
A lifeguard at a pool VS White Sands are worlds apart, nothing against the lifeguards at White Sands but the conditions are completely different. If someone goes under at a place like that where the water is so deep and murky without someone witnessing it happen then it’s likely going to be a body recovery. I can swim well enough but the few times we went I wore a life jacket, because why chance it in that deep arse murky water.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 5:55 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
was a certified lifeguard as a teenager, which means I knew basic first aid, had demonstrated proficiency in all the swimming strokes, and had "rescued" the instructor while he pretended to fight me. Nothing bad ever happened on any of my shifts. Truthfully I don't know how I would have dealt with a real crisis.
My spouse was a lifeguard as a teen through college, and has had to perform a lot of rescues at a busy state park pool that also had a lake. It was not uncommon for people to jump in the water, not knowing how to swim and not having a plan. Maybe something about having the lifeguard present does make some parents think they don't have to watch. I'm definitely not saying that was the case here, as this older teen may very well have been a good swimmer.
I'm not sure if posting "swim at your own risk" and "no lifeguards on duty" sign absolve them of all liability either. Why not have a watch tower or floating deck to see the aqua park and the other side of the inflatables better.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 6:13 pm to Misnomer
How do you drown in a lake? There's no engulfing waves. There's no riptide currents. Had to be a non-swimmer drifting too far out & slipping off their floatation device, right? If so, his is completely preventable.
And even if you are dumb enough to never have learned how to swim and still irresponsibly float your raft/tube out too deep in a lake, and fall off, you can still bob. If you have any amount of air in your lungs, and point your nose to the sky, you'll bob like a cork to infinity.
And even if you are dumb enough to never have learned how to swim and still irresponsibly float your raft/tube out too deep in a lake, and fall off, you can still bob. If you have any amount of air in your lungs, and point your nose to the sky, you'll bob like a cork to infinity.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 6:19 pm to Dixie2023
quote:
Dixie2023
100% found a female
Posted on 7/6/25 at 6:22 pm to LSUFreek
quote:
How do you drown in a lake? There's no engulfing waves. There's no riptide currents. Had to be a non-swimmer drifting too far out & slipping off their floatation device, right? If so, his is completely preventable. And even if you are dumb enough to never have learned how to swim and still irresponsibly float your raft/tube out too deep in a lake, and fall off, you can still bob. If you have any amount of air in your lungs, and point your nose to the sky, you'll bob like a cork to infinity.
No one knows what happened yet. He could have been hit while underwater by another jumper. I'm sure it was extremely crowded on the 4th. One of those inflatables is at least 10ft above water. Why presume all the above?
Posted on 7/6/25 at 6:42 pm to LSUFreek
quote:
How do you drown in a lake?
Hell if I know. How do you drown on a swimming pool?
Posted on 7/6/25 at 7:20 pm to Jim Rockford
None of us know how we will react in a crisis. I’m not blaming the lifeguard at all. My comment was mentioning what folks were saying. And the man insisting it is dredged and dangerous. In the end, we have to be mindful and careful in the water. I didn’t find the place horrible or anything, it just wasn’t for me. I’d rather go on to the MS gulf coast.
Posted on 7/6/25 at 8:13 pm to Misnomer
There are some specific statutes in Louisiana which may limit the liability of the owners because it is a recreational area open to the public.
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