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The Waccamaw Neck, South Carolina community united in grief this weekend over the loss of one of its most promising young men – a rising high school senior and star basketball player who was beloved by friends, family, classmates and teammates alike.
As we reported last week, two young men went swimming near South Dunes Drive at Litchfield By The Sea at around 6:30 p.m. EDT last Friday (July 12, 2024). A particularly fierce rip current struck them and began pulling both of them underwater. One of the boys was able to avoid the current and swim to safety … the other was not.
At approximately 7:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday (July 13, 2024), Georgetown County coroner Chase Ridgeway confirmed to a local media outlet that the body of 17-year-old Tyrese Haynes of Murrells Inlet, S.C. had been recovered from the surf near Huntington Beach State Park earlier that afternoon. The park is located approximately three miles northeast of where Haynes was last seen by witnesses.
Haynes was a rising senior at Waccamaw High School – a star shooting guard on the Warriors’ varsity basketball team who was described by local sources as “a good kid, athlete, popular and well-liked.” He dreamed of playing college basketball.
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“So many young people with broken hearts this evening,” noted Dave Clayton, a resident of Pawleys Island. “Prayers for this community and the family and loved ones of this special young man who is in heaven this evening with his creator.”
Clayton is an administrator of the Facebook group Pawleys Island Peeps, which has been following this story from the beginning. Community members have also been supporting a GoFundMe page created by Austin Bond, a local youth pastor at the Murrells Inlet, S.C.-based Low Country Community Church. According to Bond, he established the page “as a result of multiple requests from members of the Facebook group” and that “100 percent” of its funds will go directly to Haynes’ family.
To donate to the fund, click here.
“Our hearts are breaking for them,” Bond wrote on his Facebook page. “Please pray for this family and his friends.”
Haynes’ classmates shared their condolences – and urged people to support the family in its time of need.
“My heart goes out to Tyrese’s grieving family and friends,” noted Erica Sikorski. “Being a classmate of Tyrese’s for eight years has truly been a blessing.”
On Sunday afternoon, one resident spotted two young boys on Pawleys Island selling lemonade and popsicles in the hopes of contributing some of their profits to Hayes’ GoFundMe page.
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The search for Haynes began almost immediately on Friday evening after witnesses reported seeing him go underwater. Assets of the U.S. Coast Guard, Midway Fire & Rescue, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) assisted in efforts to locate him – using a Coast Guard helicopter and 45-foot boat as well as rescue swimmers, jet skis and other light watercraft.
Search efforts were suspended on account of darkness at approximately 10:00 p.m. EDT on Friday afternoon and resumed on Saturday morning.
This news outlet would encourage everyone in our audience to keep Haynes and all those mourning his sudden, tragic loss in their thoughts and prayers.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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