Community mourning after 12-year-old drowns while swimming in river

Crews found the body of Rontae Lester Saturday afternoon.

By the MVI

The Donora community is mourning the tragic death of a 12-yearold boy who drowned Saturday while swimming with friends in the Monongahela River.

A search and rescue operation began at 10:50 a.m. near Washington Street after a group of kids dialed 911 after swimming in the river. The kids told officials they were swimming with their friend and were unable to find him. Officials later arrived to the scene with rescue boats and additional equipment to search for the missing boy.

Hours following the search, Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said in a release that emergency crews found the boy just before 3:30 p.m. along a riverbed near 98 East First Street.

The child was later identified as 12-year-old Rontae Lester.

“Today your volunteers responded to a very difficult call — a call no one wants to ever go on,” the Donora Fire Co. stated in a Facebook post. “These calls are never easy please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.”

The tragedy has affected the small community.

“I wanted to cry,” said Dennis Hawkins Jr., whose son was a schoolmate and distant cousin of Lester. “I’m going to, after this sort of thing settles, sit with the father and the mother. There are two other siblings, too, so it’s like they have to deal with the loss of their brother.”

Following the incident, Ringgold School District released a statement, saying the school will provide support to students with grief counselors starting today.

“It is with great sadness that we inform you of the tragic loss of one of our students who passed away as the result of an accident earlier today,” the school district posted in a statement Saturday evening. “Our thoughts are with the student’s family, friends, and all who knew and cared for the student. We recognize that this news may be difficult to process and may bring up a wide range of emotions for students, staff, and families.”

Hawkins said there’s not much to do in Donora, and people often get hurt hanging out by the river.

A GoFundMe account set up for the family raised nearly $2,200 of its $5,500 goal by Sunday night. It can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/rafgev-help-easea- grieving-familys-burden.

Donora firefighters thanked neighboring departments for their help during the search. Assisting at the scene were Carroll Township and Monongahela police, Collinsburg, Westmoreland City, Charleroi, Monongahela, Gallatin Sunnyside, Elizabeth Borough and Port Vue fire departments, Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services, Tri Community Ambulance, LifeFlight, Greensburg Fire Department Dive Team, and the Murrysville Medic One Dive Team.

WTAE-TV contributed to this report.