By Carmen Chau – GREENWICH, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The tight-knit community of Greenwich is mourning the death of a 13-year-old boy, who was pulled out of a snow bank on Tuesday.
Joshua Demarest, 13, and Tyler Day, 12, were building a fort at a snow bank on Rock Street when it took a tragic turn. The boys became trapped in the snow.
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Several first responders got on their hands and knees late Tuesday night scrambling to find the two boys.
"I say with no exaggeration they moved an enormous amount of snow," Cambridge-Greenwich Police Chief George Bell said. "I bet they moved a ton of snow out of that pile by hand, shovel, snow rakes. I can't even tell you what they used to dig those two boys out."
But it was too late. Demarest was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m. at Saratoga Hospital. Day survived.
Classmates that knew the two boys said they never expected it to happen.
"Josh and Tyler are, like, best friends," Finn Brletich said. "They're brothers, pretty much, to each other, and I would never expect for either of them to not go home cause they both live on that same street. And I wouldn't suspect something like that to happen at all."
Police believe a Department of Public Works crew dumped snow on the bank, which trapped the boys. They also said the empty lot where the incident took place is typically where crews put snow aside.
"I want to stress this is a true tragedy," Bell said. "It's an accident. It's a true tragedy, and what exactly happened, I don't think we'll ever know."
A moment of silence was held at school on Wednesday for Demarest as everyone remembered his love for sports and making everyone laugh.
"We all have to stay strong during this hard time," Brletich said.
Day suffered from hypothermia but is home recovering. On Thursday, students will wear the number 43 in honor of Demarest and his passion for football.
Donate to the Demarest family's GoFundMe page