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BURLINGTON - Choppy conditions made underwater visibility so poor Wednesday that authorities called off the dive and helicopter search for 14-year-old Darieus Nelson of Milwaukee.

Family members say they were shocked when they found out he went missing Tuesday afternoon, claiming they did not know he went boating with a summer camp program.
 
"He was swimming or something and he’s gone," a fisherman who saw Darieus struggling said in a 911 call. "The guy that I’m holding onto right now tried to save him."
 
Nelson’s family told TODAY’S TMJ4 the adult who tried to pull the boy from the water never had permission to bring him to Browns Lake in the first place.
 
Debra Nelson said her nephew was entrusted to a gym teacher from Darieus’s charter school who runs his own fitness program.
 
The teacher brought a group of four teens to Browns Lake for an outing on his ski boat, according to authorities.
 
"We knew nothing about going out on a lake or going out on boat," said Debra Nelson.
"This is something that he has to deal with for the rest of his life. He was the last person that saw him, the last person that touched him, the last person that was there for him."
 
Darieus spent a lot of time singing in his church choir and playing basketball, but he had virtually no experience in the water. In fact, his aunt believes Darieus never took a single swimming lesson.
 
"It just comes as a shock to us and it’s just a really big pill for us to swallow right now," she said. "Why? Why would you take them out into an area without even testing the children to see if they were capable of swimming?"
 
Darieus went missing at 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. Divers searched through 6:00 Tuesday night and resumed their effort at 8:00 Wednesday morning. By mid-afternoon, divers reported terribly challenging conditions.
 
"We’ve got reports of 24 mile per hour winds and more gusts.  Boats aren’t able to stay in line and do an effective search pattern," said Rob Robins, Director of the Racine Water Rescue Team. "The winds are almost twice as much as yesterday. That’s creating white caps. It’s just as hard to see."
 
The DNR continued a surface search Wednesday evening and planned to call back divers if they thought their sonar detected a body.
 
Darieus would have been an 8th grader at Darrel Hines Academy in Milwaukee this fall. School officials said they did not sanction the summer fitness program run by their gym teacher.
 
"We are deeply saddened by what happened and our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family," said Executive Director Barbara Horton. "He was a tremendous young man."

The fisherman who saved the teacher is struggling with what happened.  He wishes he could have saved Darieus' life as well.

"If I would have been two minutes earlier maybe I would have seen this young man struggling, and I would have been able to save him.  But I didn't, and it's killing me," Thomas Fafford said.  "It really, really shakes me up.  I feel so bad for the kid's family, and for the kids who were on the boat and had to watch this and know what is going on."
 
Town of Burlington leaders have declared Browns Lake a slow, no wake zone for boaters until the body is recovered.