A Fort Worth family is grieving the loss of a son and brother, and taking comfort that he died doing what he loved.
They say 15-year-old Jerry Gonzalez was fishing Thursday evening in the Trinity River with his older brother and a friend when he slipped in to the water.
Emergency responders spent several hours searching for a teenager, but could not find him Thursday night. Divers recovered a body Friday morning.[[440963683,R]]
"We never thought it would be dangerous," said Jerry's older brother, Cristofer Gonzalez, who said fishing was Jerry's passion. "As soon as he caught a fish, you'd see him jumping up and down!"
Witnesses said Cristofer and one other person jumped into the water to try to rescue the teen. Jose Mendez said he witnessed the incident and also helped.
"Their fishing [line] got stuck on something in the water and when one of the boys tried to free it, he fell in. He couldn't get out," he said in Spanish. "I tried to throw them a rope, but it wasn't long enough to reach. They were too far out in the middle of the river."
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Fire officials said a chaplain was called to the scene while the search was underway.
"It actually comforts all of us knowing that, even though what happened, he passed away doing what he loved most," Cristofer Gonzalez said, fighting back tears.
The family set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for Jerry Gonzalez's funeral.
They say they do not know whether heavy rain Thursday afternoon had anything to do with what happened.
