PRAIRIEVILLE - Officials said a middle schooler who drowned in a pond Monday afternoon was in a canoe with friends when it flipped over. He was unable to swim to safety.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office said a 12-year-old child went into the water in the Keystone Subdivision around 5:45 p.m. He was in a canoe with friends when the boat overturned. He was the only one on board who did not know how to swim, and his friends were unable to save him, officials said. 

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said the boy's body was recovered by a dive team around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. 

"Summer brings out our kids, school's out. They're going to be active in our community but you just never want to see it end like this," Sheriff Webre said.

The boy was a student at Galvez Middle School. The school principals sent this message to parents Tuesday: