TEEN DROWNS IN BOOTHEEL

KENNETT -- A 14-year-old Chicago boy drowned on Thursday when he was swimming in a ditch, according to the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department.

The boy, Melvin A. Hawkins, who was visiting relatives, was reported drowned at 2:45 p.m., said Sheriff Bob Holder. He had been swimming with friends in the Bell Fountain ditch on Route TT, Holder said.

Although the ditch is shallow in spots, the boy drowned in a section that was between 16 and 21 feet deep, the sheriff said. The boy was probably caught in a strong undercurrent.

The sheriff said there was nothing suspicious about the drowning.

Holder was surprised that people were swimming in the ditch.

"I don't know what anyone would be doing swimming in those ditches anyway, with all the stuff and chemical runoff from the farms that get into them," Holder said.