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Family Looking For Answers After Drowning

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Aug 4, 2008 5:49 pm US/Eastern

Family Looking For Answers After Drowning

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ― A South Florida family is searching for answers to what happened to their son. 22-year-old Seraphin Bernard, Jr., who was a Silver Knight award winner, drowned in South Africa. But even after a five-day to the country, the family said it still has no answer.

"The only thing the tell me is my son disappear and they don't say anything else," said Serahpin's mother, Marie Bernard.

The drowning took place on July 13th when the young man is said to have drowned while swimming off the coast of South Africa. Seraphin had recently graduated from the Pratt Institute of Art, and was in South Africa working as a mentor for an educational program organized by World Learning, Inc.

"He was swimming by shipwreck and rip current took him and that's the only information we recieved so far," said Seraphin Bernard, Sr.

The body was never found, but the Bernards hold out hope their son may still be alive. They said after the family threatened to go to Africa to search for the truth themselves, World Learning offered to pay for their trip, but provided nothing more than "vague, evasive, and inconsistent" explanations.

Local community leaders who saw the young man mature into a talented artist and award winning mentor for inner city kids are demanding an explanation.

"A dog dies, people find out what's going on, they investigate. This young man, I'm not convinced he's dead, and even if he died, we need proof that he died. We need to investigate, we even need to bring the body home," said State Representative Yolly Roberson from North Miami Beach.

World Learning, Inc. didn't respond to CBS4 calls for comment.

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