Police ID Body Found in Little Hunting Creek as Missing Teen

A local teenager, Vladimir Antonio Perez Flores, has died, after he disappeared in the water while swimming Wednesday night at Little Hunting Creek while fishing with friends, according to police.

Vladimir, 16, was a student at Mount Vernon High School and was going to turn 17 next month, according to a report by NBC-4.

Fairfax County Police positively identified his body Thursday at Little Hunting Creek, as the teen who went missing Wednesday night and issued this statement:

A search for a 16-year-old swimmer in the waters of Little Hunting Creek, that began shortly after 8:30 last evening [Wednesday], ended in the recovery of his body today [Thursday] shortly after 1 p.m. Vladimir Antonio Perez Flores, of the Alexandria-area of Fairfax County, was fishing with friends on Wednesday, August 26. Sometime around 8.p.m., Vladimir was swimming when he experienced distress and disappeared beneath the surface. Witnesses called 911 immediately and directed police, fire and rescue units to the location upon their arrival. The family of the teen has been notified.

Boats, a helicopter and a dive team were used in attempts to rescue Vladimir, by Fairfax County, the U.S. Coast Guard and others. The Coast Guard suspended their search Thursday at about 9:30 a.m., a spokesman said.

A LittleHuntingCreek.org Web site notes the dangers of swimming in the creek: “Swimming near the stone bridge really is dangerous, because there is a sharp drop off in depth that creates a circular current in which a swimmer can be caught.”

The Web site also notes: “Although public access for fishing on the Potomac and the mouth of the creek is available from the Parkway, swimming there is very dangerous - tidal flow beneath the bridge is very fast and strong, and there is a subsurface circular current under the bridge that has accounted for at least two deaths in the past ten years. Signs recently placed forbid wading near the bridge.”

PHOTO courtesy of Fairfax County Police