McCreary teen drowns

16-year old Joshua Antonio Hipolito, a student at McCreary Central High School, has been identified as the victim in a Monday afternoon drowning in Laurel Lake in Whitley County.

The teen apparently jumped off a 25-foot cliff in to the water with a friend and apparently had difficulty resurfacing.

The friend, identified as Xavier Kramar told WKYT that he heard Hipolito call for help, then dove down in an attempt to assist, but the water was too deep.

Search crews spent two hours Monday before they finally recovered the body around 6:30 p.m.

Hipolito was a student at McCreary Central High School and a member of the Raider Band, which is organizing a T-shirt sale and has established a memorial fund account at United Cumberland Bank to assist his family with expenses.