Ohio Wesleyan student feared dead in spring break accident
DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) – Authorities fear an Ohio Wesleyan student and his father drowned while on spring break in Arkansas.
According to a post on the university’s Facebook page, authorities said there is “strong evidence” Charley Morris and his father Charles are feared to have drowned in Beaver Lake near Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to posts by the band Lotus, for which Charles was the percussionist, the two had gone kayaking at the lake on Thursday, March 16.
In a statement, Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones said of Charley Morris, “He will be remembered for his love for his family and the outdoors, his talent as a runner in cross country and track, his service as a Bishop Scholar tutor in local elementary schools, his dedication to his classwork, and his participation with OWU’s chamber orchestra. Most of all, he will be remembered at OWU as a beloved friend."
According to NBC4’s sister station WDAF in Kansas City, the Kansas City, Missouri, family set out on a spring break trip on March 14.
“My hope is that my boys are safe and at peace,” wife and mother Jennifer Thompson told WDAF on Monday. “I feel the prayers and I feel the love from afar. I’m so appreciative of the love and the light that I saw and I see in my husband and son is seen by people across the world.”
In his message, Jones said a memorial service for Charley will be planned for April.