Prom King Who Drowned in Lake Was 'Tremendous Kid'

An Iowa tennis and football star who'd recently been crowned prom king and graduated high school has died in a drowning. KCCI IDs the victim as 17-year-old Ayden Beeson, who's now being remembered as a "tremendous kid" in the wake of his death this week in Rathbun Lake, near Moravia. According to the Appanoose County Sheriff's Office, a 911 call came in shortly after 6pm local time on Wednesday noting that a "male swimmer had went under the water and had not resurfaced," reports People. A little more than an hour later, a dive team recovered Ayden's body in about 15 to 20 feet of water, per the sheriff's department statement. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Ayden was the kid every teacher and coach loves, he was such a kind and compassionate kid and gave you everything he had in the classroom and field/court!" Tyler Baze, Ayden's tennis coach at Centerville High School, wrote on Facebook, adding that Ayden was "the only Big Red Tennis player in the modern era to place in the top 6 in conference all four years of high school." In a statement, Centerville Community Schools added, "Words cannot express the depth of the sadness felt by the school community in this horrible tragedy." An investigation into Ayden's death continues. (More drowning stories.)