Two Sons Die in Fall Through Ice

BETHEL, Pa. (AP) â€” A teen-ager tried to save his 10-year-old brother after the boy fell through the ice into a backyard pond, but both died in the freezing, murky water. <br><br>Jay Paul Oberholtzer,

Friday, December 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BETHEL, Pa. (AP) â€” A teen-ager tried to save his 10-year-old brother after the boy fell through the ice into a backyard pond, but both died in the freezing, murky water.

Jay Paul Oberholtzer, 19, and Timothy Oberholtzer died at a hospital late Thursday after being removed from the pond.

Timothy Oberholtzer had ventured onto the ice with his 6-year-old brother, Jonathan, to see if it was safe to skate, state police said. Jonathan was not hurt.

Their father, 42-year-old Clinton Oberholtzer, went into the frigid water after Timothy and got stuck until 15-year-old David rescued him, police said.

``I saw my father in the water, and I got some cardboard tubes, which are about 8 feet long, and I put them on either side of him,'' David Oberholtzer told the Reading Eagle. ``My father was able to lift himself up.''

Jay Oberholtzer then made his unsuccessful attempt to save Timothy.

``I was telling them to kick if they could hear me,'' David Oberholtzer said. ``Dad told me to keep talking so they could hear and know which way to go to get out. But I didn't see any sign of movement in the water.''

Scuba divers using infrared equipment located Timothy three hours after the accident, police said.

``The conditions down there â€” zero. There was no visibility down there,'' said police diver Mike Margavage, 52, who found the child.

The pond, 12 feet at its deepest, is in a township of about 4,000 residents about 35 miles northeast of Harrisburg.

The accident was the second time in two days that two Pennsylvania brothers were killed after falling through ice. On Wednesday, two young brothers from Jersey Shore, ages 6 and 3, died after their sled broke through a frozen pond where they had been playing.

The Oberholtzer family are Mennonites who sell flowers grown in a greenhouse on their property. David Oberholtzer said his father and brother Jay had just seeded the first plants this week.