28-year-old drowning victim identified

Cameron, LA (KPLC) - A 28-year-old mother who drowned in Cameron Parish earlier this week has been identified.

Samantha Alexander, of Ethel, Miss., and her 7- and 8-year-old daughters perished in the Gulf near Long Beach Road on Sunday.

A GoFundMe has been created to help the family.

A 9-year-old son was pulled from the water and survived.

Authorities were alerted to the incident on the secluded beach when nearby residents spotted Alexander’s 3-year-old son walking alone on the beach. Jefferson County Justice of Peace Brad Burnett said the boy told the residents his mom went swimming.

Alexander and her two daughters were recovered from the water in different locations along the breakwater rocks. Sheriff Johnson said the tide was low upon their arrival and they were found on the Gulf side of the rocks.

Her 9-year-old son was rescued after waving down law enforcement when he was in the water, according to authorities.

The two girls were taken to a Hospital in Port Arthur, Texas. Alexander and her son were transported to a hospital in Lake Charles.

In the GoFundMe, the family said the 9-year-old boy has since been released from the hospital.

Sheriff Johnson said Alexander must have seen the three children in the water struggling.

“Then, apparently the mother went out because she wouldn’t have left the 3-year-old by himself unless she had to,” Sheriff Johnson said.

He described the water conditions on Sunday as being unsafe for swimming.

Sheriff Johnson told 7 News the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson Bayou Fire Department and the Cameron Parish Ambulance District 2.

The preliminary autopsies show the three died of drowning, according to Jefferson County Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett.

The family was from Mississippi, but the husband worked in the area.

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