Authorities recovered the body of a 14-year-old who went missing during a school trip to the Jersey Shore.
Shyara Hill told NBC 10 her son, Davoris Carter III, 14, disappeared on June 1. She said he had entered the water before he vanished in the Atlantic off the coast of Wildwood, New Jersey.
Carter, whom family members referred to as “Peter,” was just two days from his eighth-grade graduation. Hill said he was a student at Delta School in Philadelphia.
Wildwood police posted on Facebook on June 2 that they were tirelessly looking for the swimmer.
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But on Wednesday, authorities confirmed they found Carter’s body. Authorities found his body off the beach near the United States Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May.
Hill told NBC 10 her son loved hockey, played basketball and had aspirations of becoming a marine biologist.
Philadelphia City Rowing posted a heartfelt message for Carter’s family on Facebook.
“Davoris was just in middle school and was looking forward to joining PCR this summer,” the organization wrote. “We were excited to welcome him, and our community is hoping his loved ones get answers.”
Hill questioned the circumstances that led Carter to the water.
“The weather when I got out there, it was cold. Why was the decision to go in the water? Where was the people that were supposed to be there supervising? No protection. No lifejackets,” she said.
Authorities told NBC 10 that the teen was on a chaperoned class trip when he and three other students entered the water. An officer followed in after them and got three swimmers out of the ocean.
NBC 10 reported that first responders treated two of the rescued swimmers at the scene and transported the third to the hospital in stable condition.
Carter never made it back to shore.
“That ocean’s big. He’s a small guy,” Hill said.
Police confirmed no lifeguards were on duty at the time.
Hill told NBC 10 she didn’t know who was chaperoning the trip.
“I have no idea. I just know that he was supposed to be assigned with a staff and he had to remain with his staff,” she said.
Delta School serves students with special needs. The school told NBC 10 that six students and six staff members were on the supervised trip.
“We are cooperating fully with [investigators] and will share updated information as it becomes available,” the school said in a statement to NBC 10.
Authorities have not confirmed Carter’s official cause of death.
“Our sincere condolences are with the juvenile victim’s friends and famikly during this very difficult time,” Wildwood police wrote on Facebook.
