FORT PIERCE, FL. (WPTV) – A community in Florida is grappling with grief following the tragic drowning of a 16-year-old teenager.

Sixteen-year-old Jonathan Peralta Leon tragically drowned while visiting Pepper Park Beach.

St. The heartbreaking incident occurred Sunday night, as confirmed by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.

Morgan Harmon, a lieutenant with Ocean Rescue, expressed the severity of beach conditions that day.

“The situation right now is extremely dangerous. We’ve been experiencing these conditions for about two weeks,” Harmon said.

Jonathan’s sister Johanna shared her sadness with WPTV.

“It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to you, my little brother. Rest assured. I hope we meet again in another life. “This world doesn’t feel the same without you,” he said.

The mother of one of Jonathan’s friends remembered him fondly, saying he was “a very respectful young man.”

“He would call me Old Senora, then he would laugh and say, ‘I love you,'” she said.

While the beach is usually guarded until 5 p.m., deputies reported that the teenager drowned around 7 p.m. Sunday evening.

“It was about an hour after we got off duty. A few of us were still in the area, so we came back to see if there was anything we could do,” Harmon said.

Unfortunately, the only people he encountered were Jonathan’s two friends, who managed to get out safely.

“People who were in trouble were a little shaken up, but basically everyone was just checking to make sure there was no one else out here in the water,” Harmon said.

As the community mourned, loved ones took to social media to share photos and heartfelt messages honoring Jonathan, taken too soon as the wonderful person he was.

In memory of Jonathan, his family also founded a GoFundMe page.

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