Drowning Victim's Mom Remembers Her Son, Gary Douglas, Of South Toms River

The mother of an 18-year old South Toms River man who drowned in an inactive  mining pit known as "Fischer's Lake" is remembering her son in photos and words.

Gary Douglas was pronounced dead earlier this week at Community Medical Center after officials from the Bayville and Manitou Park Fire Company Rescue Team and other emergency personnel responded to an emergency call to the area.

Andrea Leith, Douglas' mother, wrote this on her Facebook page: "I love you, Gary Douglas. I always will. You will always be my baby boy. Rest well my dearest son."

She also showed pictures of herself with her son on her Facebook page, including a picture of Douglas when he was about five months old.

Leith told the newspaper her family moved to Ocean County a few years ago, and she thinks her son had gone to the sand pits once before with friends, but she didn't think he'd be there on Tuesday.

“They’re between the ages of 18 and 20 — they were doing what kids do,” she told the newspaper.

She’s been told her son was fairly far out in the water when he had some sort of distress, according to the APP. 

“I have told him … this was ruled an accidental drowning and deeply, within 100 percent of my heart, I believe that,” she told the APP. “I know this kid. Right now, he’s my hero, because he tried. If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know that they would have found his body quickly.”