Child pulled from water at Hopkinton beach has died

HOPKINTON, Mass. — A 9-year-old boy was pulled from the water in Hopkinton and rushed to the hospital on Sunday, but police said Monday he had died overnight.

The incident occurred at Lake Maspenock in the town around 5 p.m. Multiple people rushed into the water to save Jorge Santiago.

"Our hearts and our prayers go out to the family of Jorge," said Hopkinton Police Chief Edward Lee.

Witnesses say it took them 10-15 minutes to locate Jorge, who is a foster child. Nearly a dozen people rushed in to help.

"He was about 50 feet offshore at first and then ended up a little bit further back," Lee said. "From witnesses' accounts he just went out a little too deep, went under quickly and never resurfaced. That's usually that classic type of issue where someone's not a very good swimmer."

First responders performed CPR on the boy before he was transported to Milford Regional Hospital, and then flown to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where he later died.

According to police, Santiago died from his injuries around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.

Police say Santiago was at Lake Maspenock with a guardian who was not in the water with him when he went under.

The police chief says there were no lifeguards on duty Sunday because the public lake is not yet open for the season.

"We can't really kick people out of there or anything like that but we would discourage the swimming without the lifeguard," Chief Lee said.

Boston 25 News found state guidelines online that say youth in the care of the Department of Children and Families may only swim or boat when there is a lifeguard on duty. But a state official says that applies to those in group homes.

The state Department of Children and Families is investigating.

Joelle Crosby, who lives on the lake, was saddened to learn about the boy's death.

"It's not only our own children we should look out for, but you know, the rest of the kids too down at the lake," she said. "You know, it takes a village."

opkinton schools are offering counseling to children in the district.

Cox Media Group