Aliso Viejo Classes Resume, Students, Faculty Mourns Loss

ALISO VIEJO, CA — After a day of shock and sadness, the campuses of Don Juan Avila Middle and Elementary Schools reopened, Wednesday. Counselors were expected to be on hand Wednesday at a middle school and adjacent elementary school in Aliso Viejo, a day after the discovery of the body of a 13-year-old boy who apparently took his own life.

Police were called to Don Juan Avila Middle School, 26278 Wood Canyon Drive, about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when a custodial worker discovered the body, said Carrie Braun of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

School and sheriff's officials closed both the middle school and attached Don Juan Avila Elementary, and students arriving at the campus were taken to a nearby school site to be picked up by parents, Braun said.

The boy's parents had reported him missing earlier Tuesday morning, and deputies were looking for him at the time his body was found, Braun said.

The boy was a former student at one of the schools, Ryan Burris, a spokesman for Capistrano Unified School District said.

A friend of Patch reported from the scene, talking with Don Juan Avila 6th Grader, in front of the school discussed the day.

"I felt uneasy and scared, because someone dying isn't really something we can handle," an 11-year-old told Patch reporters at the scene. "You see the kids who are sad, new or quirky and don't fit in with a group.

"Some people have hard lives. I'm lucky enough to have a good one. Some kids might not like their lives and think this is an easy way out," he said. "A lot of the kids who come here are happy. We have a really good campus."

Classes at the campuses were canceled for the investigation. Burris said the schools would resume classes on Wednesday.