CLAY TWP — A weekend outing turned tragic Saturday night when a 14-year-old boy drowned in a pond, authorities said.

Destin Badeau from Pittsburgh’s South Hills was pronounced dead at Butler Memorial Hospital where he was taken after others at the gathering pulled him from a private pond along Shroyer Mill Road in Clay Township shortly after 9 p.m.

An autopsy Sunday listed the cause of death as accidental drowning, said Butler County Deputy Coroner Larry Barr.

State police are investigating, but a report was not available. Telephone calls Sunday to the investigating trooper were not returned.

Destin was reportedly attending a picnic with his parents at the home of Jeffrey Wokutch, who owns an auto body shop in Pittsburgh, where the boy’s father works. Other co-workers also were at the picnic.

The 155-acre property includes a man-made pond that encompasses about 3 acres, authorities said. A dock extends into the pond, which is 15 feet at its deepest point.

“The boy jumped into the water off the dock and after a period of time went missing,” said Chief Reid Campbell of the West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department. “The other kids that were with him brought it to the attention of the adults on the dock.”

The water is about 7 feet deep where Destin had jumped, Campbell said.

The other youngsters told authorities that while swimming earlier during the day the boy had been hiding as a joke and they thought he was just playing around when he initially couldn’t be found.

“He had been wearing a life jacket, but for some reason he removed it when he jumped,” Campbell said.

Authorities said Destin told the other children that he knew how to swim.

The adults at the gathering immediately began looking for the boy, employing a rope line as they walked around the pond.

The county’s 911 center got a call reporting a possible drowning at 9:07 p.m. and West Sunbury and Unionville firefighters were dispatched, as was the countywide dive team.

But by the time rescue crews got there, the others at the outing had found Destin and gotten him out of the water.

“They were doing CPR,” Campbell said. “There were two or three there that had training (in CPR).”

A Butler Ambulance Service crew arrived quickly and a team of medics took over life-saving efforts.

“It was quite a hectic scenario,” Campbell said.

Destin was rushed to the hospital, authorities said, but he died in the emergency room. He was pronounced dead at 10:30 p.m.

Campbell called the death a tragic accident.

“It’s just one of those things that happens, unfortunately,” he said. “It’s not like there weren’t adults there or there weren’t life jackets around. He elected to take his off.”

Wokutch declined to comment “out of respect for the (Badeau) family,” according to an unidentified man who answered the telephone this morning at Jeff Wokutch Auto Body & Service Center.

The Badeau family has created a GoFundMe page to help pay for Destin’s funeral expenses. As of this morning, the page raised more than $3,000.

According to the online fundraising website, Destin, the only child of Patrice Jones and George Badeau, enjoyed playing football, karate and baseball.

“He was funny, silly, smart, kind, generous and always wanted to help people,” the posting said, “He had great faith in God and wanted to stop the violence and trauma that children experience when they hear about all the shootings in recent weeks.”

To visit the site, go to

www.gofundme.com/2dpeczgb.