A devastating sand tunnel collapse has left a Florida community mourning the deaths of two teenage boys who were enjoying a simple afternoon outdoors. George Watts, 14, and Derrick Hubbard, 14, died after a hand-dug sand hole and tunnel collapsed near Sportsman’s Park in Inverness on January 11, according to FOX 13.
The sand tunnel was reportedly about five feet deep when it gave way, trapping both boys beneath heavy sand. Corey Edwards, their coach and mentor with the 352 Legends program, said the boys were doing exactly what adults often encourage. “They were just kids,” Edwards told FOX 13. “They were just kids doing what we try to tell kids to do, ‘Get outside and play.’”
According to a Citrus County Sheriff’s Office report obtained by FOX 13, concern grew when the boys did not answer their phones around lunchtime. Their parents went searching and found the boys’ bicycles and shoes near the sandpit. They immediately began digging and called for emergency assistance.
First responders located Hubbard without a pulse. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead. Watts was found with a pulse but unconscious and not breathing. He was rushed to a hospital and later airlifted to UF Health Shands in Gainesville in critical condition. He died two days later at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday.
Authorities have not confirmed how long the boys were buried. Edwards described the boys as imaginative and adventurous. “They were digging a hole,” he said. “They were having fun, being adventurous, using their imagination.”
Friends and family say the boys grew up together and were like brothers. Lina Bilodeau told FOX 13, “This is a pain that will never subside. Born together and passed together.”
