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Both Zamari Wilson, 12, and Ryan Neal, 44, drowned within hours of each other July Fourth weekend on Virginia Beach.
Ryan Michael Neal's body was found in the 3400 block of Shore Drive at 4:15 pm July 3. He drowned a little over a mile away from where 12-year-old Zamari Wilson went missing earlier that day.
Trouble began when Neal went walking on a sandbar with his girlfriend, his friend wrote on a GoFundMe page. She struggled to save him for over 30 minutes before almost drowning herself.
Zamari had been visiting family for the holiday weekend and last seen swimming near the Delta Marriott on Shore Drive around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, July 3. His body was found with help from the Coast Guard around three hours later.
It wasn't long before Neal was reported missing.
Neal had recently moved to Virginia Beach from Minnesota for a fresh start, the page says. He was just starting to make a place for himself before he died, loved ones say.
Ryan had moved to Virginia Beach from St. Paul, Minnesota and was living with his daughter and son-in-law. He moved here to turn his life around and was accomplishing just that: was staying sober, was a rising star as an expert machinist at his new job, and found true love with a beautiful woman who cared deeply for him. He was in love and Melissa loved him back just the same.
Neal leaves behind his daughter and two sons, as well as his girlfriend and many other family members. Family and friends are using the GoFundMe page to get Neal back to Minnesota for a proper burial.
A GoFundMe page for Wilson said he had opened a business before his 12th birthday, designing logos and mixtape covers.
"His art is also in many homes," it says. "We were all routing for him."
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