A decapitated human head that washed ashore in South Florida on Tuesday belongs to a 19-year-old swimmer who went missing in Miami Beach last weekend, police said.
The teenager, later identified as Victor Enrique Castaneda Jr., was reported missing around 6 p.m. last Saturday near a jetty close to South Pointe Drive in Miami Beach.
His disappearance led to a three-hour search conducted by local and county officials, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, local television station WSVN reported.
Rescuers were unable locate him and the case was entered into the missing persons database.
Early on Tuesday, authorities were notified of human remains found near an island by Key Biscayne, NBC News reported citing Miami-Dade Police.
On Friday. the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner confirmed that the human remains were those of Castaneda.
According to a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of Victor Castaneda Sr., the young Castaneda “died a hero, using all his strength to save his sister from drowning.”
Miami Beach Police said the victim and his younger sister were swimming in South Point Beach then they were caught in a rip current.
A bystander went into the water and was able to rescue his sister. But when that person went back to help Castaneda, he was nowhere to be found, their older sibling, Jessica Castaneda, told NBC 6.
On Saturday, family and friends gathered in South Pointe Beach for a memorial service to celebrate the life of the young hero, as two Miami-Dade Fire Rescue boats fired water cannons into the air in an honorary show, the Miami Herald reported.
The cause and manner of death have not been released as of Saturday afternoon.