WHITE LAKE, Mich. (WXYZ) — "It's a very tragic situation. Good kids make bad choices," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard about the death of a 16-year-old White Lake boy whose body was found Sunday night in a pond.
An alarm sounded when Joseph Paduchowski and another 16-year-old were on the roof of the Tractor Supply store around 2 am Sunday.
As the two teens were climbing down, they took off running when they spotted a police officer, according to White Lake Police.
White Lake Police said they were able to take one teen into custody but the other, Paduchowski, fled into a nearby wooded area and officers were unable to locate him.
The teen who was taken into custody was later picked up by his father.
Paduchowski's mother said that her son's car was at the other teen's house but that they were not made aware of the situation until hours later, around 9:30 am, when she texted the other teen's mother to ask if Joseph was there.
The other teen's dad then called the Paduchowskis and that's when they began to search for Joseph and filed a missing person report.
Officers with White Lake Police were joined by the Oakland County Search and Rescue Team to search for the teen in the wooded area where he was last seen.
Around 10 pm, the body of Joseph Paduchowski was located in a small pond in the area of Highland Road and Maple Heights Drive in White Lake Township.
Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff are investigating the teen's death and say there are no signs of foul play.
It appears Paduchowski may have drowned.
In a statement, Kathleen Paduchowski said, "Joseph has had a big personality since he entered this world 8 weeks early in 2007. He has always been a loving and caring person. He found his love for football when he started playing flag in second grade. He continued to play until this year even though he missed his entire seventh grade season due to an injury which his team got us all through," she wrote.
"I want the memories of him to be the good ones. We always tried to instill making good choices. He was a loving friend, coworker, teammate, brother and son," Kathleen wrote. "The world was a much better place with him in it. Now it’s up to us to keep his memories alive as we navigate one day at a time without his sweet face."
