UConn student drowns in Guilford pond

Guilford (WTNH) - Family and friends mourn the death of a UConn student after a drowning, Sunday afternoon, on Susanne Circle in the Valley Shores section of town.

19-year-old Garland Brown drowned in a small, private pond. Neighbors say that for over 30-years there have been no problems with the pond until today.

Friends of Brown have already posted a memorial page for him on Facebook. The sophomore had been spending his 4th of July holiday with seven of his college friends.

"One of them lives in the neighborhood and they were staying at his house for the weekend," said Sgt. Robert Norman of the Guilford Police Department.

It was reported that the group of friends were swimming in the local pond. Police say there was no alcohol, no drugs, no problems of any kind, until suddenly Brown, of Queens, New York, disappeared. At 2:40 p.m., the frantic 9-1-1 call came in.

"One of them realized he was missing, they started looking for him, one of them noticed him under the water, they took him out, began CPR," said Sgt. Norman.

Brown was missing for a full 10 minutes, though the pond is not particularly deep, with 8-feet at the very middle. The bottom is quite mucky and there are lily pad vines which your feet could get caught up in. But at this point, it's just not clear what happened.

"They were just all swimming and frolicking around and for unknown reasons, he just went under," said Sgt. Norman.

Grief counselors, and the police chaplain, came out to talk to Brown's friends. The Medical Examiner's Office will be doing an autopsy to determine if there was some kind of underlying medical condition that may have caused a problem.