Teen, uncle both drown after attempting to help dog in pond, TV station reports

Published 1:28 pm Monday, June 5, 2023

Two Alabama men, one a teenager, drowned on Sunday after one jumped into a pond to save a dog, before getting into trouble swimming, a TV station reported.

WAAY-TV reported that Gabriel Alonzo, 17, first went into a pond in Hillsboro in Lawrence County in an attempt to help a dog that was in the water.

As the teen struggled to swim, his uncle, identified as Julio Chich Alvarez, 36, went in to help his nephew.

After Alvarez helped the teen to the bank, he reportedly went under water himself.

The nephew then went back into the water to help his uncle. Neither resurfaced.

Search teams recovered their bodies on Sunday.