Teen feared dead in Sampson City camper fire
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office said it believes a 13-year-old boy perished in a camper fire near Wynn Family Cemetery in the Sampson City area Tuesday morning.
Initial reports from the sheriff’s office stated the victim was 11. However, an incident report released by the office on Tuesday afternoon said the boy was 13.
The report also redacted the teen’s name and indicated the body appeared to have been lying in a bed when it was found.
At press time, Col. Brad Smith of the sheriff’s office said the agency was not releasing the boy’s name at this time.
Smith added that a 911 call came into dispatch at 9:35, reporting that flames were coming from the structure at the end of Southwest 84th Avenue.
Bradford County Fire Chief Ben Carter said that when firefighters from Sampson City arrived, the structure was fully involved. Speedville firefighters arrived later, and a call for assistance from Starke Fire Rescue was canceled.
Carter added that before discovering the body, firefighters focused on preventing the flames from spreading into nearby trees.
“We initially had the forest service on route as well because we were worried about it getting into the woods,” he said. “We ended up canceling them. They knocked it down real quick, and then once they were able to get the fire contained, they discovered the body.”
Col. Smith said the 13-year-old was staying home due to illness. Sheriff Gordon Smith added that deputies went to the boy’s school to see if he was there, with negative results.
The sheriff added that the boy’s mother works at the Alachua County Jail and was on scene soon after the fire was extinguished. Col. Smith said the boy and his mother were the only residents of the home.
Within three hours of the initial 911 call, the State Fire Marshall’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the medical examiner’s office were on scene. Officials have not yet positively identified the body, nor determined the cause of the fire.
Neighbor Kiera Lindsay said that around 9:21 or 9:24, she heard what she thought was a gunshot. When she walked outside to investigate, she saw the camper in flames. Upon hearing another propane tank explode, she returned inside her own mobile home and called 911.
