Pace Ervin Taylor, 19, dies after being swept away in Mississippi River following concert

Jennifer Portman | Tallahassee Democrat

A night of music and fun with old friends in Memphis ended in tragedy this weekend, when 19-year-old Pace Ervin Taylor fell into the fast, churning current of the Mississippi River.

Friends of the 2017 Chiles High School graduate watched in helpless horror, unable to reach Pace, as he was swiftly swept from shore after a concert Friday night. They saw him grab hold of a branch but it broke away and he was gone.

Pace's body was located Sunday afternoon not far from where he went missing.

Last night, while @ the Wide Spread Panic concert on Mud Island, a male White was seen jumping over the over the wall in the rear of the Mud Island Amphitheater into the MS River. Thus far, the male has not been located. Officers and MPDs Harbor Patrol are still looking for him. — Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) June 30, 2018

“We don’t know what to do other than open our home up to his friends,” his mother, Jen Taylor, said Sunday morning. “We’ve lost him but we haven’t lost our sense of his life. We want his friends here with us so we aren’t doing this alone.”

Pace, a rising sophomore and Sigma Nu fraternity member at Valdosta State University, loved fishing and being on the water, his mom said. He also loved music, and the band Widespread Panic was one of his favorites.

Pace drove from Valdosta with a friend to the band’s Memphis gig, where they were joined by friends from Tallahassee who go to school in Mississippi. The concert at the Mud Island Amphitheater was great, but the night was sweltering hot.

After the show, the group walked along the retaining wall along the river and joked about jumping in to cool off, Taylor said. Next thing they knew Pace climbed over the wall. He walked along with them on the riverbank, until he slipped.

Detectives told Taylor the current at that stretch of the river is strong, too strong for divers to even try to look for someone trapped under the brown, churning water.

The loss is crushing.

“He was very much a family boy — that’s why he chose to go to Valdosta, so he could be close to his family,” his mom said.

The family would drive up and have lunch with Pace almost every week. He called or texted home every day to talk to his 22-year-old brother Mabry and his 11-year-old sister Briley. They were all looking forward to a family a beach trip in August before school started back up.

“He wasn’t that kid who goes to college to get away from his family,” Taylor said. “He was by no means a perfect child, but he was mine.”

The Taylor family is hosting a gathering for Pace at 4 p.m. Friday at 5946 Heartland Circle. All are welcome.