Adams County – The night Patrick Vigil drowned in a Thornton fishing lake, he spoke to his girlfriend on the phone and told her he did not want to go swimming, she said.
But Vigil, 15, was prone to caving in to peer pressure, especially from a 20-year-old skateboarder nicknamed “Pinkie,” who befriended him, the girlfriend said Wednesday.
While rescuers responded Sunday night to reports of a drowning boy in West Sprat- Platte Lake, Vigil’s friends fled rather than help find him, authorities said. It wasn’t until the following evening that they reported his drowning to his mother.
“He said they were forcing him to go up there to the lake,” said Vigil’s girlfriend, Sara Lello, 12, of Alsip, Ill. “He was still on the phone when I heard him say to the others: ‘I don’t want to go up there. My girlfriend don’t want me to go, so I think I’m just going to go home.”‘
Sara said it then sounded as if one of Vigil’s companions grabbed the phone from him and hung up on her. She called back several times, with no answer.
The two had an Internet romance and were to meet for the first time next month.
An autopsy Wednesday by the Adams County coroner’s office determined no cause for the drowning, but officials were awaiting some test results, including toxicology tests.
Deputy Coroner Mark Chavez said the boy’s body showed no obvious signs of trauma, such as bruises or cuts. There are no indications that alcohol or drugs were involved, authorities said.
Matt Barnes, a Thornton police spokesman, added that investigators are “99 percent” sure that no criminal charges will stem from the accident.
But Vigil’s family is convinced something is suspicious about his death. Vigil was athletic, an agile skateboarder, a former football player and a strong swimmer, family members said.
“Something had to have happened to him for him just to drown,” said his mother, Ginny Gonzales. “He’s been swimming since he was little. He’s a very strong kid and a very strong swimmer. He knew that if he ever cramped up in the water that all he’d have to do is stay calm and stay afloat.”
Vigil’s phone hasn’t been recovered, his family said. They’re leaving it activated in hopes of learning more about whom he called the night of his drowning.
Thornton Deputy Fire Chief Leo Giuliano said authorities questioned four other witnesses, who were in a raft on the lake Sunday night when Vigil drowned. Two of the four left the raft to call 911 for help, and the other two remained at the lake and even dived underwater multiple times to try to save him, Vigil’s family said.
“The police told us that those two guys were so tired from diving for Patrick that they almost couldn’t make it back into their raft,” Vigil’s uncle, Johnny Vigil, said. “We’d like to thank them for helping a total stranger, while Patrick’s friends just left because they were afraid of the cops.”
The sister of Vigil’s friend Pinkie was contacted at the family’s home in Westminster on Wednesday. She declined to be interviewed.
Donations can be made through Chase Bank to Patrick’s Memorial Fund for funeral costs. Services are pending.
Staff writer Alicia Ping-Quon Wittmeyer contributed to this report.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
