An 18-year-old Cal State Fullerton student’s body was found after he drowned during a trip to Lake Havasu with his fraternity brothers over the weekend, according to officials and the school’s Sigma Pi chapter.
“With deep sorrow, we share the heartbreaking news that Simon T. Daniel, a first-year student at Cal State Fullerton, tragically passed away in an accidental drowning while on vacation,” the fraternity said in a statement released Monday.
Daniel’s body was recovered on Sunday just before 9 a.m., according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, after a day of search efforts on the lake.
Sigma Pi’s post said that Daniel went into the lake on Saturday afternoon with three fraternity brothers and two visiting sorority members.
“Unbeknownst to them, recent heavy rains in the Havasu Valley region had significantly increased water flow, creating hazardous conditions including strong currents, crosswinds and swells,” read the post. “When the group found themselves in distress, several fraternity members heroically risked their own lives to rescue all six students.”
However, the rescue mission took a devastating turn.
“Tragically, Simon was swept away by a sudden wave that separated him from one of the rescuers,” said the statement. “He disappeared beneath the water.”
Despite an emergency response to the scene with divers searching until nightfall, Daniel sadly did not make it back out of the water alive.
Sigma Pi said that Daniel, a teenager from Pinole, California, is survived by his mother and “a community of loved ones and brothers who deeply mourn his loss.”
“Simon was a computer science major, a proud initiated member of Sigma Pi Fraternity, and a respected leader on campus,” continued the post. “He was the heart of the fraternity – genuine, joyful and someone who brightened every room with his brilliant smile.”
The fraternity said Daniel was “known for his love of music, boundless energy and kind spirit.”
Resources are available to those affected by Daniel’s passing, and they are included in the fraternity’s post linked here.
Over the same weekend, a UCSB student also died during a trip to a lake with friends, and, though his body was found in and retrieved from Big Bear Lake, it remains unclear how he ended up in the water after a night out with his friends.
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