Families coping with loss of sons

CORRECTION: This version of the story corrects Jessica Alvarez's relationship with the Zapata family. Javier Zapata, her boyfriend, was not in the Rio Grande Valley when the group went swimming.

DONNA — Ten days have passed since Andrea Zapata’s oldest son, Mario Zapata Jr., drowned at South Padre Island.

She still doesn’t know the details surrounding his death, and that’s the way she wants it.

Her youngest son, 20-year-old Juan Zapata, is the only eyewitness and he can’t yet speak about the incident that took not just his brother’s life, but his best friend’s, too.

“I haven’t told anyone,” he said, politely refusing to talk about what happened.

July 4 was a normal Sunday morning, Andrea Zapata recalled. Two of her three boys, Mario Zapata Jr., 24, and Juan Zapata, 20, were asleep when 21-year-old Carlos Javier “C.J.” De Anda, Juan’s best friend, showed up at their home.

“C.J. was like one of my boys,” she said. “He was always hanging around.”

The young men, who were all close friends, had planned to see the fireworks display at the beach later that night. Javier, the middle child, stayed behind, and the girlfriend of 22-year-old Javier Zapata joined them instead.

The four met at the Zapata home late that morning.

“We wanted to leave early, but we had stayed up late the night before,” said 18-year-old Jessica Alvarez. “So we didn’t end up leaving until 12 or 1 (p.m.)”

The boys’ mother remembers asking the group, “Why do you have to go? It’s late. Why don’t you just stay?”

But she’s not sure of other details.

“I can’t remember for the life of me if I said, ‘I love you,’ to him,” she said of Mario Jr. “We always said it, but I don’t remember.”

The boys’ father, Mario Zapata, 52, remembers it clearly.

“I told (Mario Jr.) to be careful and to take care of the boys as he was leaving,” the father said. His son smiled, turned around and, without looking back, gave him a thumbs-up and nodded his head. That was the last time the elder Zapata saw his son alive.

THE INCIDENT

Cameron County Park Rangers received a call about two swimmers in distress at 3:36 p.m. later that day.

According to Alvarez, the four of them went into the water at Beach Access No. 2 as soon as they arrived.  The waves were high and the current was strong.

Alvarez, who was growing tired because of the force of the water, decided to get out. She propped herself on the shore and watched the young men.

“They were pretty far out,” she said. “The water kept moving them.”

Juan’s girlfriend said she had been keeping a close eye on them, but a little girl caught her attention and she looked away for a split second.

“When I looked back, I couldn’t see any of them,” she said. “It wasn’t until I saw Juan coming back by himself and I heard someone next to me yell, ‘Call 9-1-1,’ that I realized what was happening.”

De Anda, who had been a couple of feet from where the two brothers were standing, had been pulled away from shore by a rip current. When Mario Jr. saw and heard C.J. struggling, he ran to his aid. Not many more details have been disclosed.

South Padre Island Beach Patrol responders found both of them near Beach Access No. 3. Cameron County Justice of the Peace Benny Ochoa pronounced Mario Jr. dead at the scene. De Anda, however, was resuscitated and taken to South Padre Island Convention Center. From there he was airlifted to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen.

A hysterical Juan Zapata called his father, and Alvarez informed De Anda’s mother.

The drive to the hospital was a quiet one, Alvarez said.

The vehicle that had carried four people to the beach departed to the hospital with two.

AFTERWARD

De Anda was in the hospital for four days but was taken off life support after doctors pronounced him brain dead after a series of tests.

“I believe my son died at the beach that day with Mario,” said De Anda’s mother, Lis De Anda. “The only thing that consoles me is that he was really happy before he died.”

A video and pictures taken that day show a smiling group of friends on their way to the beach.

“I’ve never seen him smile that big,” Lis De Anda said while looking at a video of her son that Juan Zapata and friend David Lopez put together for his funeral. “He looks really happy.”

Andrea Zapata also finds consolation in the fact that she knows her son was happy before his death.

About a week before Mario Jr. died, his mother felt the urge to ask him if he was happy.

“I don’t know why I asked him,” she said. “But he said yes.”

Her husband is grateful they were able to spend what he referred to as “the greatest night of our lives” the day before the incident.

The Zapata family gathered at a relative’s house to watch a televised UFC fight.

Mario picked up the tab for the pay-per-view service, his mom said.

“He was living paycheck to paycheck, but he always provided for the family,” she said. “He was always putting himself first, up to the very end.”

He also loved to cook, making meals for his mother when she underwent heart surgery.

“He was very mature for his age,” she said.

C.J. De Anda’s mother said her son was her right hand and best friend. He hung every frame up in their home and was even going to strip the carpet.

“He loved electronics,” she said. “He worked at the RadioShack on Trenton and 10th Street (in McAllen) and he just loved it.”

The store closed down the day of his funeral so co-workers could attend.

“I thank the Zapata family for having such a courageous son,” Lis De Anda said. “We’re very thankful for Mario’s sacrifice.”

The two families are working together to heal their wounds and are planning a series of rosaries for the young men.

The De Anda family also plans to visit Val Verde Memorial Gardens Cemetery on Friday.

It would have been C.J.’s 22nd birthday.

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