A 17-year-old swimmer died Saturday at the Glory Hole off the Treadwell Trail system on Douglas Island.
According to a news release from the Juneau Police Department, the boy — who has not been identified — was with two friends when he jumped into the water and did not return to shore.
The friends said the boy surfaced briefly after diving but didn’t come back up. One of the friends called 911 around 4:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Juneau police, Capital City Fire and Rescue and Juneau Mountain Rescue responded but did not find the boy. Alaska State Troopers took over the search and found his body on Sunday.
Troopers spokesperson John Dougherty said the boy likely drowned, but the State Medical Examiner’s office would determine cause of death.
The Glory Hole, a deep vertical shaft, was excavated in the 1900s as part of the Treadwell gold mine. Much of it flooded in 1917, leading to the mine’s closure.
Officials say the area the boy jumped from was “steep, treacherous, and difficult to move through.”
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