This past Saturday, the family and friends of 19-year-old Victor Castañeda Jr. gathered at South Pointe on Miami Beach to celebrate his life at the very place he lost it.
The Miami teen disappeared into the ocean on Nov. 9 after saving his 17-year-old sister, Hailey Clements, from a rip current that dragged her out to sea. After a three-day search by local authorities, his remains washed ashore in Key Biscayne and were found by a Biscayne Beach employee.
“I believed he was alive until the last moment,” shared his aunt, Liz Montero.
During the memorial, attendees brought flowers and wore shirts with the teen’s face on them. Pastor Tucker Stripe, of Christ Fellowship, started the ceremony with a speech, and the Castañeda family closed it with the release of three white doves. One of them circled the crowd before flying off. “Victor doesn’t want to leave,” said a mourner.
“All his friends came,” said Castañeda Jr.’s older sister, Jessica. “My brother was an amazing, amazing person. To know him was really to love him.”
