Erwin man drowns in Cape Fear River

A 19-year-old Erwin man drowned Saturday while swimming in the Cape Fear River, Harnett County sheriff’s deputies said Monday.

Justin Lee Harris, of the 3100 block of Beaver Dam Road in Erwin, was fishing Saturday afternoon with three friends near the Cape Fear River Bridge on N.C. Highway 217. The friends were swimming across the river when Harris went under and did not resurface.

Deputies said friends tried to search for Harris but could not find him and called authorities. His body was recovered a short time later.

The drowning was the second the state over the weekend.

A 19-year-old East Carolina University student died Sunday after being pulled underwater while swimming in Pine Knoll Shores.

Braxton Horton, of Raleigh, got caught in a rip current and drowned shortly after 4:30 p.m., said the Carteret County town's mayor, Ken Jones.

His body was found around 7 p.m. at a beach access point on the west end of Pine Knoll Shores, Jones said.

Horton was working at Camp Sea Gull, a YMCA sailing camp for boys in the Pamlico County town of Arapahoe, for the summer. He had been living at the coast for about a week.