Remembering two boys who drowned in Brockton pond

BROCKTON, Mass. — Family and friends laid flowers and candles at the spot where two cousins drowned in Brockton Saturday.

“Things like this you can’t do nothing to help bring them back, it’s so sad, they’re so young they got so much to live,” said Elton Nunes at the lake Sunday.

Nunes is related to Rafael Andrande and Tiago Depina, who were just 13 and 12 years old.

He says one of the boy’s dads is always working, but he decided to take his son and nephew to Waldo Lake Saturday since it was a nice day.

“He never gets a chance,” said Nunes. “He was like, let me get my kids out to go play, so he decides to take his boys out yesterday.”

The Plymouth County District Attorney says the boys were skipping rocks when one of them fell into the lake.

That’s when his cousin jumped in to try to rescue him, but they both went under.

Family and witnesses nearby tried to help but couldn’t find the boys.

“This is just a tragic day here in the city and our prayers and our condolences go out to the family,” said Robert Sullivan, Brockton’s mayor.

Dive teams searched for the boys and found one of them after about an hour.

They recovered the second boy after another hour.

Both of them were pronounced dead at the hospital.

“In Cape Verde we don’t have nothing like this, so like if it’s raining we go outside,” said Nunes.

Nunes says the cousins didn’t know how to swim, especially since they were unfamiliar with big lakes like this one after moving to the U.S. from Cape Verde.

He’s still in disbelief that his family just lost two of their own.

“It’s good for sons to bury their moms, not the moms bury their sons,” said Nunes.

The Brockton school district says both boys went to South Middle School, and they’ll have grief counselors available for anyone who needs one.

There’s also a candlelight vigil planned for 8 p.m. on Monday night at D.W. Field Park to honor the boys.

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