The parents of 14-year-old baseball prodigy Gustavo Talmare are seeking more information about his death after he drowned in a lagoon in the Dominican Republic.
Per the New York Post, Talmare disappeared after he went to Guerra’s Laguna del Toro to swim on the night of August 15. The lagoon is situated near one of the prominent academies in the Caribbean nation, and Talmare had stayed there for just two months before he drowned.
Talmare’s body was ultimately found on August 16, and at a 40-minute distance from the academy, Diaro Libre reported. An investigation into the incident has since been launched, and authorities are yet to establish how the drowning occurred.
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“I was devastated to learn about it,” Amaurys Nina, a renowned youth coach and the academy’s owner, told DeUltimoMinuto.com. “The body was recovered by a rescue organization, but I still don’t understand what it was doing there. The authorities are investigating what happened.”
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Academy officials told Diario Libre that Talmare, as well as a few other academy students, went to the lagoon to swim, and they did not seek permission before leaving. Talmare is said to have gone into distress while swimming.
But in an interview with DeUltimoMinuto, Talmare’s mother, María Esther Pimentel, challenged the academy’s account of what occurred. She said her son wasn’t “naughty” to be breaking bounds. She also said her son had received swimming lessons from the family.
DeUltimoMinuto.com also reported that the teen fell into the lagoon while he was trying to grab a fruit. An academy student, who was part of the group at the lagoon, attempted to save Talmare but was unable to.
Talmare got deprived of oxygen and was unable to return to shore. Officials ruled his cause of death as asphyxiation by immersion (drowning), the New York Post reported.
Talmare was named the 2024 Caribbean Kids Series MVP after recording four home runs. Nina described the deceased teen as a “very disciplined and obedient” athlete.
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