HOUSTON –A Travis High School football player who went missing in the Brazos River was pronounced dead Friday afternoon.
Benjamin Ola and four other football players decided to go swimming after practice Friday morning when something went horribly wrong.
The five teens, who play for the school’s junior varsity team, told deputies they were holding on to a log but the strong current ripped it away.
They said Ola, 17, went under and never came back up.
“They saw him swimming fine. He came up for air at one time took a deep breath, went back under to continue swimming and never came back up,” said Sgt. Lowell Neinast of the Richmond Police Department.
It happened near the intersection of Blaisdale and FM 359 just before 10 a.m.
According to deputies, Ola was under water about 10 minutes before his friends called authorities.
The Fort Bend County Sherriff’s Office and Richmond Fire Department dive team arrived at the scene and began searching for the boy in the water, on foot and even above in helicopters. They found nothing.
“(It’s) challenging because, number one, you got the heat out here. The river has a strong current, the river is low, which increases the strength of the current,” said Neinast.
Ola’s friends and family were shocked to hear the news.
“Devastating. Devastating news when I heard about it. It shocked me because this kid is at my house most every day. It was just devastating,” said family friend Victoria Smith.
Authorities said Ola could swim and worked as a certified lifeguard at his neighborhood pool.
Isaac Ola, the victim's father, is demanding answers from authorities.
"Why is it that the only one who knew how to swim is the one that died and all the others are okay," asked Ola.
He said his son had dreams of becoming a doctor one day.
The families of all five boys spent much of the morning at the scene and were joined by several of the young men’s coaches at Travis.
“Support. Just support. Friends of the families. Just here to help people out. Sorry we just can’t talk about it now,” said one coach.
On Facebook, a page had already been created to honor Ola’s life.
“We love you, and you’ll be missed greatly,” posted one friend. “Only the good die young. RIP♥ Every game this year is for you, I’ll be dancing for you on that field you were going to be playing on. God received a great angel today.”
“God only takes the best. We all love you & will miss you dearly. Prayers going out to you & your family,” posted another.
Fort Bend ISD spokespeople said Ola’s teammates are receiving counseling and activities have been cancelled for the next two days. The district said those counselors and staff would be available at the Travis Field House on Saturday until 1 p.m. for students who wanted to talk.
The district canceled all student activities at the high school through the weekend.
