DATE: Friday, July 18, 1997                 TAG: 9707180665

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   38 lines

SEARCHERS FIND BODY OF BOY, 11, WHO DROWNED IN OCEAN VIEW

Search teams Thursday afternoon found the body of Jason T. Thomas, the 11-year-old boy who drowned Tuesday at Community Beach in Ocean View.

Police spokesman Larry Hill said four lifeguards in a boat spotted the body about 12:45 p.m., floating not far from where he was thought to have disappeared.

The body was taken to the medical examiner's office, where family members identified him, Hill said.

Jason was playing with his 13-year-old brother and two friends at the Community Beach when, witnesses said, he slipped off a sandbar and disappeared in the murky water.

Rescuers had been searching since he disappeared but their efforts were hampered by Wednesday's storms and by the limited visibility in the water. Also, police said, the other boys could not remember exactly where Jason went under the surface.

Jason's family lives in the 700 block of Chester St. His parents, who were not at the beach when Jason disappeared, declined comment Thursday.

Jason's death touched some longtime residents of the area, including Joanne Martin, who spent considerable time swimming at Community Beach while she was growing up. Martin, 38, said she now takes her 9-year-old daughter, Angela, there all the time.

``It's so sad when something like this happens,'' said Martin, who was with Angela at Community Beach about an hour before Jason disappeared. ``I feel so bad for this mother.

``I'm sure it's God's will,'' she said. ``But. . . it's just a sad thing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Jason T. Thomas, 11, drowned Tuesday at Community Beach in Ocean

View. KEYWORDS: DROWNING

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