KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — A beach worker made a gruesome discovery on a Florida beach — a human head had washed up at Key Biscayne.
The head was later identified as Victor Castaneda Jr., 19, The Associated Press reported. Castaneda had been reported missing on Nov. 9. He had tried to rescue his younger sister from a rip current when they were swimming near Miami Beach’s South Point Beach. A bystander eventually got Castaneda’s sister out of the water, but when they went back to help him, he had already disappeared.
Local officials and members of the U.S. Coast Guard searched for Castaneda but did not find him.
Miami-Dade police said that a person who was raking the beach found a head and alerted them. Police confirmed it was human on Tuesday and by Friday confirmed that it was that of Castaneda.
Police are still investigating Castaneda’s death, but no foul play is expected, the Miami Herald reported. A cause of death was not released, WSVN reported.
Castaneda’s family called the 19-year-old a hero for saving his sister.
“I do know that my little brother was in the water with my little sister, and he saved her life, and he is a hero,” Chloe Castaneda, his older sister, told WSVN. “He is a hero, and we’re – he is a hero.”
She also called her brother, one of eight children in their family, “a great kid.”
“I was very proud of him, and he was a pure bundle of joy. He was a goofball. He was so selfless,” Chloe Castaneda said.
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