Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A 12-year-old Sag Harbor boy is dead after an inflatable raft carrying five people — including at least one adult — capsized on the Lehigh River in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday during a school field trip to the Pocono Mountains. The victim, Cesar Albarracin Guncay, was a sixth grader at Pierson Middle School in Sag Harbor, Long Island. Divers recovered his body from the river, and he was pronounced dead at a nearby park at approximately 6:50 p.m. An autopsy later confirmed the cause of death as accidental drowning.
According to The Independent, the capsize occurred during Pierson Middle School’s annual guided rafting excursion — a trip the school holds each year. When the raft overturned, all five people aboard were thrown into the water. The other occupants resurfaced, but Guncay did not. Emergency dive crews were called to the scene and eventually recovered the boy from the river, transporting him to a nearby park where he was pronounced dead approximately one hour and twenty minutes after the raft went over.
The Carbon County Coroner’s Office, which issued a formal news release on the incident, confirmed that an autopsy established accidental drowning as the official cause of death. As The Independent notes, officials believe Guncay was wearing a life jacket at the time the raft capsized, though investigators have cautioned that the inquiry is still ongoing and no final determination on all circumstances has been made.
District Superintendent Jeff Nichols addressed the community in an email to families on Wednesday evening, according to NBC New York as cited by The Independent. “There are no words to adequately express the depth of this loss,” Nichols wrote. “Cesar was a cherished member of our school family, a child who mattered deeply to all who had the privilege of knowing him. His absence will leave an irreplaceable space in our classrooms, our hallways, and our lives.” Nichols added: “Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Cesar’s family and friends during this very sad time. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
Guncay’s cousin, speaking tearfully to NBC New York, revealed that Cesar had moved to the United States from Ecuador three years before the accident — ahead of his parents — and had quickly embraced life in Sag Harbor. The cousin described him as a soccer-loving, art-loving boy who had learned English and was, in the cousin’s words, “living the American dream.” According to the cousin, Cesar had been genuinely excited about the rafting portion of the school trip in the days leading up to it.
A GoFundMe fundraiser established to support the Guncay family remembered Cesar as “a kind, handsome and athletic 6th grader, a friend to many and a beloved neighborhood kid here in Sag Harbor.” The campaign had raised over $207,000 toward its $350,000 goal as of Friday, May 29, 2026, reflecting the outpouring of grief from the broader Sag Harbor community and beyond.
Location & Road Context
The accident occurred on the Lehigh River in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, within the broader Pocono Mountains region — a popular outdoor recreation destination frequently used for school and youth group field trips from the New York metro area, including Long Island. The specific stretch of the Lehigh River where the raft overturned is a commonly traveled whitewater corridor. Sag Harbor, where Pierson Middle School is located, sits on the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The Carbon County Coroner’s Office is continuing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the capsize, according to The Independent. While the autopsy has formally established accidental drowning as the cause of death, officials noted that questions remain — including the precise conditions that led the raft to flip and the exact role, if any, played by the life jacket Guncay is believed to have been wearing. No charges have been reported at this time, and the investigation is described as ongoing. It remains unclear whether local Pennsylvania authorities, the school district, or the guided excursion operator will face any additional scrutiny.
Broader Impact
School-organized whitewater rafting excursions on rivers such as the Lehigh carry inherent risks that have prompted debate in recent years about adequate safety protocols, supervision ratios, and equipment checks for student participants — particularly for children who may have limited swimming experience or who, like Cesar, may have recently immigrated and had less exposure to open-water recreation. The Sag Harbor community, and the broader Long Island region, is now grappling with that question in the most painful of circumstances.