A 17-year-old from Crewe died after entering the water at Pickmere Lake in Cheshire on Tuesday afternoon, after a search that stretched into the evening and ended with emergency crews recovering his body later that night. David Tita Jr had been at the lake between Knutsford and Northwich with friends before he was reported missing.
His family said the loss of their son cannot be put into words. They described David as compassionate, sensitive, brave and full of light, and said he was more than a son: a friend, a brother and a supportive force to the wider Crewe community. They added that their pain would stay with them forever.
A major search was launched at about 16:50 BST, with officers carrying out extensive searches of the area to find him. A police helicopter, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and specialist Underwater Search Teams all joined the operation. The recovery came the same evening, bringing a painful end to hours of uncertainty for the family and the crews working on the water.
David’s death came during a period of record-breaking heat across parts of the UK, a stretch that has already seen a string of water-related deaths. There have been 12 recently, including a 12-year-old boy found in the River Ribble in Ribchester, Lancashire, alongside other incidents involving young people in Kent, Oxford, Lincoln, Halifax, Rotherham, Warwickshire, Farnborough and Scotland, as well as adults in Cornwall and Wales.
What remains unanswered is how David got into difficulty in Pickmere Lake. That gap matters because it is the difference between a tragic outcome and a warning others can act on. For now, the facts are stark: a teenager from Crewe went missing in cheshire water on a hot Tuesday afternoon, and by nightfall his family was left speaking of a life they say was full of light, and a future they have lost.
