WFAA-TV

PELICAN BAY — Searchers used sonar Tuesday morning in an attempt to locate a 16-year-old boy missing after a canoe flipped over in Eagle Mountain Lake Monday evening.

The young man, identified by family members as Joseph Barnett, and a friend, 16-year-old Jessica Storm, were canoeing in the lake when the boat capsized around 5:30 p.m.

Chad Lorance, a spokesman for the Tarrant Regional Water District, said his organization was working with a state game warden to locate Joseph.

Earlier Tuesday, the canoe was found in the water about 300 yards from where it flipped, Lorance said. The water temperature on Monday night was about 52 degrees, he said.

Jessica said both teens went into the lake when the canoe flipped. She said she was able to get Joseph back to the surface and urged him to swim for the shore.

Jessica was able to swim to shore and ran to the home of Debra Willis, a family member who lives about a quarter-mile away. Willis said Jessica was wet and covered with mud when she reached the door.

She was hollering, "'Joe's out there, Joe's out there, he's underwater!'," Willis said.

Family members said Joseph knew how to swim and was phyiscally active. Joseph's brother, Robert Rizzari, said he had worked construction jobs in the past and rode his bicycle to the lake "every day."

Willis said she saw Joseph and Jessica get into the canoe, which they had found, with their bicycles.

"They were in the boat, rocking it, just being kids," she said. "I even told them to take the bikes out because the wheels were hanging off the sides. They said, 'No, we're going to ride them when we get across the lake.'"

Joseph is from Pelican Bay, about 20 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Family members said Joseph was not in school but had a job at Jack in the Box. Jessica is from Azle.

Joseph's mother, Kristina Barnett, said she wanted to know why Jessica didn't ask for help before she got to Willis' home.

"There are a lot of questions," she said. "When those two are together, they make bad decisions."

Willis and other family members were hoping for good news.

"He's so sweet. Just a fun type kid. He likes pulling jokes, and then he just cracks up," she said.