Family grapples with tragedy

Mitchell Somerville’s father isn’t desperate for answers; he’s just trying to come to grips with the death of his youngest son.

“Our family has come to the conclusion that whatever happened has happened, it’s not going to change the fact that our loved one is gone and it’s not going to change the beautiful memories we have of him,” Joseph Somerville told the Star on Tuesday evening.

“If he had been savable, we would have saved him with all the help we had. . . . If anything, Mitch would have been extremely grateful and happy that so many people cared about him.

“I’m just glad there’s no foul play around. No deep dark questions, no suicide, no running away, nothing. This is simply a tragedy and it happened to my son in the prime of his life.”

The body of the missing Ajax teen was found Sunday in Frenchman’s Bay in Pickering. The 17-year-old had been missing since Sept. 21.

Results of the post-mortem exam released Tuesday found no obvious signs of trauma, supporting the police theory that the teen entered the water voluntarily, said Durham police Det. Dave Mason.

However, police have more questions than answers when it comes to figuring out how Somerville ended up 20 kilometres west of the last place he was spotted.

On the night of Friday, Sept. 21, Somerville went to meet two girls. Security camera footage captured him at a McDonald’s restaurant in Whitby at about 10 p.m.

At some point he wound up in the murky waters of Frenchman’s Bay south of West Shore Blvd. and Bayly Ave.

His body, found clothed in shorts and a shirt, resurfaced in the shallow waters about 30 metres from shore Sunday, eight days after he was reported missing.

A hiker found his shoes, a shirt and a backpack containing a school textbook at the shoreline.

Beer cans were strewn along the shore, but there’s nothing to indicate they belonged to Somerville, police said.

Somerville, a talented baseball player, knew how to swim.

Police have labelled the incident death by misadventure. Results of toxicology tests will be returned in several weeks.