MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A 17-year-old swimmer who was reported missing in a lake in Medford on Monday has been pulled from the water dead, state police said.

The teen’s body was recovered by emergency crews responding to a report of a missing swimmer at the Upper Mystic Lake.

His name has not been released.

Nilton Bedoni, who was standing about 100 feet away from the scene, said he heard people crying for help but initially thought those cries were a joke.

“I started like getting up and kinda like I was wondering what was going on,” Bedoni said. “You know, a couple minutes later I found that like a guy, there were three, they jumped in and one of them never came back.”

Despite signs posted around the area stating the lake is private and not open to swimmers, witnesses say there were dozens of people out enjoying the water.

“This was an accident waiting to happen,” one woman said. “Just a matter of time. There are no less than 100 people on this dock every weekend.”

@MassStatePolice say a 17-yr-old has been pronounced dead after being recovered from the Upper Mystic Lake by dive teams this evening. Witnesses say they were swimming along with other teens in a popular but off-limits boat dock. No word on next of kin notification #7News pic.twitter.com/lueM6jvNwz — Justin Bourke (@JBourkeOn7) July 2, 2019

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