Boys Apparently Drowned In Thurston County

Two Spanaway boys apparently drowned in a lake in southeast Thurston County.

Thurston County Coroner Judy Arnold on Monday identified the youths as Robert David Schmidt, 12, and Maurice Shaw, 11. Autopsies were planned, she said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called about 1:30 p.m. Sunday to a public boat launch at Lake Lawrence after people noticed a small inflatable boat drifting empty with its oars floating in the water, a sheriff’s department news release said. The boys had been seen in the boat earlier.

Sheriff’s divers found their bodies about 6:30 p.m. about 300 feet from shore, the news release said.