By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports a wake is set to take place tomorrow evening at at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tacoma for the teenage immigrant from Nigeria who drowned last month in the Chehalis River.
Local authorities said 17-year-old Linsey Mike was on his first-ever camping trip at Rainbow Falls State Park with friends when he jumped into the water, began to flail around panicked and then vanished the afternoon of June 14. His body was recovered the following morning.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said Mike told his friends he was not a good swimmer.
News reporter Ryan Tarinelli writes the teen and his twin sister fled northern Nigeria in 2010 amidst religious riots, and stayed with relatives. Their father died of a heart attack fleeing the violence and their mother happened to be in Tacoma attending a missionary conference, according to Tarinelli.
The sheriff’s office said Mike had only been in Washington for eight months.
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