Lexington County high school athlete drowns in river incident weeks before graduation

A Pelion High School student-athlete died Sunday while swimming in a river with friends, just weeks before he was scheduled to graduate.

Senior Marcus Dwyer, 18, drowned while swimming in the Edisto River on Sunday, Pelion football coach and athletic director Dann Holland said Monday.

“We are saddened by the loss of one of our Panthers. Marcus ‘ED’ Dwyer was a beloved member of our student body. Our condolences to the Dwyer family during this difficult time,” a post on Pelion’s school Twitter page.

Orangeburg County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Carson Park Landing of the Edisto River around 3:45 p.m. Sunday, according to an incident report provided by the sheriff’s office. That’s just outside the town of North, where U.S. 321 crosses over the Edisto River.

Several young people had apparently been swimming in the river at the time, according to the incident report. A female witness told deputies that one of the male acquaintances had jumped into the river from the bridge and asked Dwyer to jump in. He and another swimmer told Dwyer “Come on and jump” and other phrases to encourage him to jump in.

After jumping from the bridge, Dwyer swam to the male acquaintance but began to struggle, the female witness told deputies. She saw him push Dwyer away until Dwyer went under the water, at which point the male acquaintance swam toward the landing area and began looking for Dwyer.

Dwyer’s friend told deputies he and another man jumped off the bridge and into the water, at which point Dwyer also jumped from the bridge, according to the incident report. When they reached a grassy area in the river, Dwyer swam up to them “and began pulling on their shorts and grabbing at them,” the report states. The friend told deputies he thought Dwyer “was ‘playing around’ and was not serious” until he saw Dwyer go under the water and not come back up.

He swam back to the landing and tried to find Dwyer in the water, he told deputies.

While deputies spoke with the witnesses, “dozens” of other people showed up on the scene, including members of Dwyer’s family, and units from Springfield were called in to assist with crowd control, according to the report.

Dwyer’s body was found just before 6:30 p.m., in the grassy area where he was last seen, according to the report.

Dwyer played football, basketball and ran track for the Panthers and was a popular student at the school. He finished second in the long jump at last month’s Region 5-3A meet.

Lexington School District One said in a release Monday afternoon that district counselors and psychologists are at the school to help students and staff deal with their loss.

“During the day, they will watch students carefully, listen to their comments, answer general questions and look for signs of distress,” district spokeswoman Mary Beth Hill said in a release. “If those counselors have any concerns about how a student is handling this, they will contact the student’s parent directly.”

Messages of condolences and tributes were posted on social media Monday morning. Students held a candlelight vigil for Dwyer at the school Sunday night.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Lexington County high school athlete drowns in river incident weeks before graduation."