Boys' daring on thin ice turns to grief

Flocks of Canada geese hovered on the icy golf course pond marred by thin bike marks and a frothy path cut by rescue workers.

A steady parade of golfers teed off Monday, casually strolling around the site where a teen- ager, Mike Schmid, had drowned the night before.

That bothered the 15-yearold's father, Gary Schmid.

"They were playing golf out there today. I don't understand that," he said.

Gleneagle Golf Club manager Jon Brockman said people showed up Monday to play golf.

"How do you handle a situation like this?" he said. "Our thoughts are with the boy's family. We feel for them."

The tragic Sunday began as a typical weekend day for Schmid and his friend Jeremiah Brockett, 15.

The two Pine Creek High School freshmen took a three-hour bike ride to Fox Run Park.

The sun was setting about 5 p.m. when the teens cut across an icy pond on a golf course near their Gleneagle homes.

The ice cracked under Brockett, sinking the bike. Schmid jumped off his bike and rushed to help him. Both boys slipped into the frigid water.

Brockett got out unharmed and tried to grab Schmid, who disappeared under the surface.

Shortly after 8 p.m., divers recovered Schmid's body on the pond floor about 10 feet from Brockett's sunken bike.

"We were hoping that they would find him quickly enough," Gary Schmid said Monday, wiping away tears. "But they didn't."

Mike's mother, Trudy, reflected numbly on the tragedy.

"It was a normal Sunday," she said. "He usually hangs out with Jeremiah on the weekends. They were really good friends."

The family, which includes Mike's sister, Erin, 18, and her baby son, Zachary, moved to the Gleneagle house from Colorado Springs two years ago because they liked the feel of the neighborhood.

Trudy Schmid said her son was a good kid.

"He never got into trouble," she said. "We got him deejay equipment for Christmas. He was just starting out with that."

She had warned him earlier Sunday about the pond.

"I told them they needed to stay off the pond because the ice could break through," she said. "Jeremiah's dad said he had caught them walking across it and told them not to do it."

Deborah Shannon, whose house backs on the pond, said she and other neighbors have yelled at children who ignored warning signs and chose to play on the thin ice.

"It was kids doing what they shouldn't be doing, but then again it was kids being kids," she said of Sunday's death.

"One of the reasons I love living here is the view. Now I look out, and it brings me sadness."

Academy District 20 spokeswoman Nanette Anderson said Schmid is the second Pine Creek student to die this school year; the other was in December from natural causes.

"Crisis teams are in place and will be throughout the week," she said.

"We have staff trained to help students and other staff members. If parents see kids struggling, they should contact the school."

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