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Hawkins Jr., Jameson KINSTON - Jameson Hawkins Jr., 17, of 110 S. Orion St., died at Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Swinson Funeral Service. Teen drowns in Atlantic Beach Kinston youth went missing Sunday, body found Monday August 4, 2008 - 12:11PM JANNETTE PIPPIN DAILY NEWS STAFF ATLANTIC BEACH - The ocean was calm and the beach quiet Monday evening outside the Oceanana Resort, a serene but somber end to a 24-hour effort that kept the beach on alert in the search for a missing swimmer. The search ended around 2 p.m. when the body of Jamerson Hawkins Jr., 17, of Kinston, was found near the shore at the bathhouse area of Fort Macon State Park. He was found about two miles from where he had been swimming near the Atlantic Beach Circle and a mile or so from the Oceanana resort, where a command post had been established for rescue operations and family members gathered and waited on news Terri Leahy, an Oceanana employee who witnessed search activities and the anguish of family members, said it was a sad end to the day but she was glad to know Hawkins' parents were able to return home knowing their son had been found. "It's better to know," she said. "It would have been horrible if they had never found his body." Local authorities as well as the Coast Guard and Marine search and rescue helicopter Pedro had been searching for Hawkins for nearly 24 hours at the time his body was found. Search efforts had turned from a rescue operation to a recovery one, but Atlantic Beach Fire Department Chief Adam Snyder said it was just as important to them that they locate Hawkins. We were able to bring some closure to the family," he said. Hawkins was reported missing in the water around 8:11 p.m. Sunday. He and a friend were swimming in the water just east of the Circle when he apparently began having difficulty in the water and went under after being hit by a wave, Snyder said. The friend was reportedly able to grab hold of Hawkins at one point but could not keep hold of him. Snyder noted that Hawkins and his friend were swimming in an area that has l ifeguards, but the lifeguards go off duty at 6 p.m. A call for help was made to 911. After getting an account of what happened and a description of Hawkins, Atlantic Beach officials immediately initiated a search from land, water and air that included personnel from Atlantic Beach fire and police departments; Pine Knoll Shores police and fire departments; and the U.S. Coast Guard, which launched boats and helicopters. major challenge as the search began was the loss of daylight hours. "We used every resource we could to try to find him as quickly as possible in the time that we had (before dark)," Snyder. But the darkness didn't stop the search. Search crews placed large spotlights on the beach, while trucks roamed the shore with headlights on and helicopters continued to fly overhead and boats motored below them. Community members also stepped up to help. "There were people all up and down the beach with flashlights," said Leahy, an employee of Oceanana Resort, where she also has a trailer. "It was nice to see the people of the community coming out." Contact Carteret County reporter Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 252-808-2275. ============================================================== Kinston High School family grieves loss of student August 4, 2008 - 9:59PM Vanessa Clarke Shortley Staff Writer Those who knew 17-year-old Jamerson Hawkins Jr. said he was a sweet, quiet boy who loved to help people. Chris Griffin, 19, Hawkins' uncle, called his nephew "a good kid." "He was a cool dude," he said. "He got along with everybody. He did what he could to help people." Griffin said the teen liked to play basketball and hang out with his friends. He said he and his nephew were close and spent a good deal of time together. "We're trying, but it's kind of hard being that we just lost somebody that was close to us," Griffin said. "He's going to be well missed by everybody." Hawkins, a rising junior at Kinston High School, was swimming with a friend Sunday at Atlantic Beach when he was hit by a wave and never re-surfaced. A 24-hour search effort ended Monday when Hawkins' body was found around 2 p.m. Griffin said the boy's mother was on her way back from Atlantic Beach on Monday afternoon. The Free Press contacted Hawkins' mother but she did not wish to comment. Lenoir County Schools Superintendent Dr. Terry Cline opened the monthly school board meeting Monday night by honoring the memory of Hawkins. Before the board went into closed session, Cline took a moment to remember the youngster. "This was horrific and we're certainly remembering the family in our thoughts and prayers," Cline said. "This really hit home for each and every one of us. "When I heard on the news, ‘Kinston, North Carolina,' my ears perked up. And when I heard he was 17, my ears perked up even higher because I knew he was one of my students. ... It hit really close to home." Joseph Romig taught Hawkins in his biology class at Kinston High School. He said the 17-year-old was the type of kid who did exactly what he was told. "He was a quiet kid; he kept to himself," Romig said. "He was never a discipline issue. ... He was a hard worker. He gave it his best. That's the kid that he was." Romig said though Hawkins was quiet, he wasn't shy and had plenty of friends. "He just wasn't a very talkative child," he said. Hawkins - along with four others in Romig's biology class - took care of the plants in Kinston High's greenhouse, which were being used for a Kinston/Lenoir Parks and Recreation Department butterfly garden. "He did help out to take care of the plants," Romig said. "He did whatever you asked him to do. He and four other kids in that class kind of stepped it up a notch and took care of those plants in the greenhouse." Hawkins, according to Romig, was the kind of student teachers don't see very often; he came to school, didn't make trouble and did his work. "In this day and age, a kid like that you wish you had tons of them because you don't typically get that kind of child," Romig said. Kinston High School Principal Wynn Whittington also said Hawkins was a great person. "He's a good kid, nice to be around, didn't cause any problems, came to school, did what was asked of him," he said. "... He's just a good student. It's just a shame what happened." Whittington said he let staff and students at the high school know what had happened to the young student by phone. The school's counselors were on-hand to talk to any student who needed help and would be throughout the week. The death of a student hit the close-knit Kinston High community especially hard, Whittington said. "Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to his family because we are a family, staff and students alike," he said. "We've lost a family member and we grieve just like everybody else grieves. Certainly not to their extent, but we've lost one of ours and it's tough." Content Editor Bryan C. Hanks contributed to this report. Vanessa C. Shortley can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or vshortley@freedomenc.com.
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