18-year-old drowns at Quarry Park in Stearns County

An 18-year-old died on Saturday after jumping into the water at Quarry Park and never resurfacing, according to Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.

At around 8:07 p.m., Stearns County Water Patrol Staff was working at Quarry Park located at 1802 County Road 137 in Waite Park patrolling when they were notified of an individual who had jumped into the quarry and never surfaced.

The sheriff’s office said patrol deputies quickly responded to the quarry and learned Zakariya Aden Odowa, 18, of St. Cloud, never surfaced after jumping off the end of the floating dock.

Waite Park Fire Department and Mayo Ambulance were dispatched to the scene and the Stearns/Benton County Dive Team. The Waite Park Fire Department and Stearns County Sheriff’s Department Deputies used boats to try and recover Odowa before the dive team’s arrival but were unsuccessful, said the sheriff’s office.

A diver was deployed and quickly located the victim in approximately 25’ of water. He was transported to shore by members of the fire department, and Mayo Ambulance began life-saving efforts.

According to the sheriff’s office, Odowa was transported to the St. Cloud Hospital and was pronounced dead at the hospital.