Lowcountry teen dies while swimming

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a St. Helena Island teen apparently drowned while swimming in a pond near Beaufort.

The Beaufort Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/NVjcMd ) 17-year-old Semaj Johnson and three friends were swimming in a pond Wednesday afternoon when he went under the water.

Divers searched the pond for more than two hours before Johnson’s body was found.

Beaufort County Coroner David Ott says Johnson was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. He says the cause of death appears to be drowning.

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Information from: The Beaufort Gazette, http://www.beaufortgazette.com