A close-knit Florida community is in mourning after two teenage boys died in a horrific accident, becoming trapped when a sand tunnel they had dug themselves suddenly collapsed.
A Childhood Adventure Turns to Tragedy
George Watts and Derrick Hubbard, both aged 14, were described as inseparable best friends who loved the outdoors. Their shared passion for adventure ended in tragedy on Sunday, 11 January 2026, at Sportsman Park in Inverness, Florida.
The pair had spent two weeks constructing a tunnel in the area's soft 'sugar sand'. While inside their DIY project, the structure gave way, burying them approximately four to five feet underground.
Desperate Search and Rescue Effort
The alarm was raised when the boys failed to return home for lunch and could not be reached on their mobile phones. A missing persons report was filed, but initially, no one had seen them at the park.
The breakthrough came when a parent received a location alert from their child's phone, indicating they had been at the park an hour earlier. Rushing to the scene, family members found the boys' shoes and bicycles near the excavation site.
Paramedics worked for around 30 minutes to free the teenagers from the compacted sand. Derrick Hubbard was pronounced dead after being transported to hospital. George Watts arrived at the hospital unconscious and not breathing on his own; he tragically succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Tuesday, 13 January.
A Community United in Grief
In a moving tribute on a GoFundMe page, George's mother, Jasmine Watts, painted a picture of two vibrant lives cut short. She wrote that the boys "grew up side by side, bonded like siblings" and that their home was always full of the laughter and noise of their wide circle of friends.
"What should have been another day of childhood adventure turned into a heartbreaking loss that no parent should ever have to endure," she stated.
The boys' coach, Corey Edwards, remembered them as "old school" kids who preferred outdoor play to technology. "These kids were outside every day, and a tragic accident that, honestly, no one could have predicted," he told local media.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office released a statement offering support to the grieving families, praising the community's compassion and urging unity during the difficult healing process.
