The recovery of 17-year-old Eduardo Duarte followed nearly two days of searching by deputies, fire rescue crews and divers.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The search for a missing teenager on Lake Jessamine ended in tragedy Wednesday when authorities recovered the body of 17-year-old Eduardo Duarte after a canoe carrying four teens overturned during rough weather earlier in the week.
For much of Central Florida, the case became a story of waiting: waiting on the shoreline, waiting through the night, waiting for rescue boats to circle the same patch of water again. Sheriff’s deputies said four teens were in the canoe when it capsized Monday afternoon near Lake Jessamine Lane. Three made it out. Duarte did not. The response brought together the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orange County Fire Rescue, divers, boats and aircraft, and it unfolded under weather conditions that investigators say likely played a role in the accident. Now that the recovery has been made, officials say the next phase is determining exactly how the canoe filled with water and whether any new evidence changes the early conclusion that the drowning was accidental.
The first call came in at about 1:05 p.m. Monday, when deputies were dispatched to the 5500 block of Lake Jessamine Lane. By then, the canoe had already overturned. Officials said four teenagers had gone out onto the lake, but only three were rescued. The fourth, later identified as Duarte, remained missing as marine units and fire rescue crews spread across the water. Local television reports showed a long operation that carried through Monday evening and resumed with full force Tuesday morning. Spectrum News reported that crews used four boats and a helicopter during the search on Tuesday, while divers concentrated on parts of the lake where they believed Duarte might be. Residents woke to aircraft overhead and emergency lights still visible near the shoreline. That extended search turned a sudden accident into a dayslong public vigil.
Weather is one of the clearest facts in the case, even as many other details remain unsettled. The sheriff’s office said investigators were told the canoe took on water because of weather conditions, causing it to capsize. Monday had already been flagged by local forecasters as a day with a severe weather risk across Central Florida, including the possibility of damaging winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms. FOX 35 reported that strong winds, rain and lightning complicated the search and forced pauses at times by creating choppy water. Officials have not released a more precise sequence explaining whether a burst of rain hit the boat, whether wind pushed water over the sides, or whether the canoe had any stability problem before conditions worsened. They also have not said whether the group had safety gear, whether anyone tried to swim the canoe to shore, or how quickly the first 911 call came after the boat overturned.
The geography of Lake Jessamine shaped both the search and the public response. The lake is ringed by homes, docks and neighborhood access points, turning many nearby residents into witnesses to the aftermath rather than to the accident itself. Local reporting cited county environmental data describing Lake Jessamine as a roughly 294-acre lake with average depths of 11 to 16 feet, though one resident familiar with the water said some areas are much deeper. That mix of shallow and deeper sections appears to have made the underwater search more difficult. It also helped explain why crews narrowed and re-narrowed the search area instead of quickly finding Duarte. From shore, residents could see emergency teams working close to places that are usually associated with fishing, boating and ordinary afternoon activity. That contrast gave the scene much of its emotional force: a familiar neighborhood lake had become an active recovery site.
As the search stretched into a second day, the story widened beyond emergency response. Spectrum News reported that Forest Lake Academy principal Glen Baker confirmed the missing teen was a student at the Apopka school. Baker also said three junior class students and one former student were in the canoe when it capsized. He said a vigil took place Monday night at Forest Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church, where family members and friends gathered while search crews kept working. The school planned counseling and pastoral support for students and staff returning after spring break. Those details underscored how quickly an accident on the water had rippled into classrooms, congregations and homes. The loss was not limited to one family. It touched a school community, lakeside neighbors and first responders who stayed on scene through changing weather and fading daylight while hoping the outcome might still change.
ClickOrlando quoted a neighbor, Dylan Alpert, who said he saw the group before they launched and watched them carry the canoe by hand. He said they seemed to be struggling with it and that the scene afterward left him shaken. Another resident described the accident as one of the most tragic events on the lake in a long time. Those comments do not answer the central factual questions, but they do help explain the atmosphere around the search: concern at first, then dread, and finally grief when the recovery was announced. On Wednesday, officials said Duarte had been found dead. The sheriff’s office said detectives believe the drowning was accidental, but the case will remain open until autopsy results are completed. That leaves one final official checkpoint ahead, even as the broad outline of what happened has become clear.
Authorities now say the emergency search is over, the investigation remains open pending autopsy results, and the next expected update will come if detectives or the medical examiner add findings to the record.
Author note: Last updated 2026-03-18.