Updated: 06 Sep 2009

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Sapulpa Herald
Sapulpa, Creek County, Oklahoma
07-01-1994

A Sapulpa teen-ager who would have been a senior at Sapulpa High School this fall drowned Thursday at Okmulgee Lake after he struggled in a panic with a friend trying to rescue him, authorities said.

The body of Christopher L. Latham, 17, was recovered by divers about 30 feet from shore, after longtime friend Timothy Maroutso, also 17 of Sapulpa, tried desperately to save him.

The third boy, Tymon Carver, also 17, then had to help Maroutsos to shore.

A family member said that the three boys had gone to Okmulgee Lake and was swimming back from the buoys at the marked-off swimming area when Latham said he was tired and would “just tread water there for a while” until he caught his breath.

The two other teens were swimming back toward shore when Maroutsos realized Latham was in trouble. He swam back to Latham and dove repeatedly pushing his friend to the surface.

An effort to use an armlock to drag Latham back toward shore also was futile.

Carver swam back to the two and helped the exhausted Maroutsos to shore, then went for help.

Latham, the son of Rhonda Latham of Sapulpa, was living in Tulsa this summer with his father.

The drowning was the second in recent days with Sapulpa connections.

Meanwhile, friends searching for a 27-year-old man found his body in Flint Creek in Delaware County, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.

The identity of the man who drowned Wednesday was being withheld pending notification of relatives. 

The friends said they last saw the (copy ended)

Latham, Christopher Jacob
Sapulpa Herald
Sapulpa, Creek County, Oklahoma
07-03-1994

Christopher Jacob Latham, 17, died Thursday in Okmulgee County following a swimming accident in Okmulgee Lake.

Graveside services were at 2 p.m., Saturday, at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens, Broken Arrow with Tulsa Whisenhunt Funeral Home in charge of services.

Latham would have been a senior at Sapulpa High School this coming school year. He is survived by his parents Donald L. Latham Jr., and Rhonda Thompson, Tulsa.

Other survivors include grandparents, Billie Jo Turney, Tulsa, and Donald L. Latham Sr., Fairmont, Ga., plus two aunts, one uncle, and three cousins.