Two friends who graduated from high school Saturday morning drowned that afternoon while swimming in the Gunpowder River, authorities and relatives said.
The victims were 17 and 18 and lived in Baltimore County, said George Mercer, a spokesman for Aberdeen Proving Ground. Police at the military installation were investigating the deaths because the
teens' bodies were recovered in federal waters nearby late Saturday, Mercer said.
Authorities had not identified the victims early Sunday evening, but the parents of 18-year-old Kyle Bianchi said that their son was one of the victims.
Bianchi died just hours after he graduated from high school, said his father, Richard Bianchi. "He was so proud of himself," Bianchi said. "I was so proud of him."
The Bianchi's said they were eager to hear the results of an investigation into their son's death. He was athletic and a strong swimmer, they said, and should have been able to swim to safety.
Investigators said the teens were riding on a power boat with an uncle of one of the teens near the Hammerman beach area at Gunpowder Falls State Park. They jumped into the water without life vests and got caught in a strong current, officials said.
They tried to swim back to the boat, but only one made it. Alcohol was not a factor in their deaths, officials said.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
