Body found in Galveston search for missing twin boys last seen in water near Pleasure Pier

GALVESTON, Texas - A body has been found during the search for 13-year-old twin brothers who went missing while swimming near Pleasure Pier in Galveston, officials say.

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According to Galveston Island Beach Patrol, a body was found around 2 a.m. Tuesday near 28th Street and Seawall Blvd and matches the description of one of the missing boys. Officials say four people were walking by, saw the body, pulled the body to shore and then called 911.

Galveston Island Beach Patrol said the boys’ family called 911 on Sunday after the boys went missing in the water on the west side of Pleasure Pier around 4:30 p.m.

Officials say the brothers, Josue and Jefferson, were last seen in chest-deep or waist-deep water, and no one confirmed seeing the boys go underwater. We’re told the twins did not know how to swim.

"Nobody confirms seeing them go underwater," explains  Lt. Austin Kirwin with Galveston Beach Patrol. "So essentially what happened is they were out in the water, the parents briefly lost sight of them, and they looked back up into that area, and they did not see them any longer."

Aldine ISD confirmed in a statement the twins were students at Hoffman Middle School. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time," the district said in a statement.

Multiple agencies including the Galveston County Community Emergency Response Team, Beach Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, and volunteers were out searching for the twins since Sunday. The search continues Tuesday for the other teen.