The mother of a 15-year-old Stagg High School student in Stockton pleaded Friday for the community’s help in the search for her son, who is believed to have jumped into the Calaveras River earlier this week.

With tears and hurt in her voice, Amanda Jurado on Friday identified her missing son as Xavier Martinez and asked for everyone’s help in looking for her child.

After the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office boating unit paused their search in a levee across from the high school for the second time this week, the mother asked anyone with kayaks or boats to help her.

The first search by the boating unit Wednesday ran from 2 p.m. to around 8 p.m. and had to stop because the water equipment could not see underwater after dark. The second search was paused at 2 p.m. Thursday.

“They said that the sheriff’s department equipment was messed up yesterday, so they stopped the search,” Jurado said. “They could have went to Stanislaus County, Sacramento County, whatever other county that’s willing to come out here and help our divers, any boats, anything just to look on the sides in case he just went in the brush or under the brush.”

Rescue personnel in boats comb a section of the Calaveras River near Stagg High School in Stockton on Wednesday where it is believed that a teenager may have jumped into the water while trying to flee school administrators after an altercation on campus. (Victoria Franco/Bay City News)

Jurado said her friend had went out to the levee Thursday with a kayak and an underwater reader and was going up and down the area where Martinez was last seen.

She said she has been attempting to talk to unhoused residents in the area and asking people to call 911 if they see anything.

“Just because he ran away from the cops, and he got into a fight does not mean his life means any less than anybody else’s,” Jurado said.

Fight turned to flight

Melinda Meza, Stockton Unified School District spokesperson, explained at a news conference this week the events that led up to two students jumping into the levee on the south side of the Stagg High campus Wednesday.

Meza said two students got into a fight at the high school campus. Two other students wearing ski masks also jumped into the fight before school administrators broke it up.

“Administrators didn’t know if (the people wearing masks) were actual students,” Meza said. “They thought there’s maybe intruders, so they called the SROs (school resource officers).”

She said when police attempted to identify the two people wearing masks, they fled off of the campus and ran to the levee.

The Calaveras River flows along the south side of the Stagg High School campus in Stockton, as seen in an aerial Google image. Authorities believe that 15-year-old Xavier Martinez may be missing in the river after he either jumped or was chased into it on Wednesday. (Google image)

The school district alleged that they did not chase the students off campus grounds, but Martinez’s mother still has questions.

“I just want to know what happened and why did the school chase him into this water?” Jurado said. “I just feel like they shouldn’t have even chased him. He was already off their property, off the school property.”

An officer who was returning to campus after lunch drove onto the levee to see if he could spot the teens and from a distance allegedly saw two boys on an island in the levee.

“Just because he ran away from the cops, and he got into a fight does not mean his life means any less than anybody else’s.” Amanda Jurado, mother of Xavier Martinez

The officer alleged that both of the boys jumped into the levee.

District officials said the officer drove to the other side of the levee to reach the kids and was told by one of the boys that his friend could still possibly be in the water.

Holding on to hope

Although the boating search for the teen continued Friday, the school district said in an email that they continue to hold out hope that Martinez made it out of the water but is just scared to come home.

Jurado said her son has not contacted any family members but still holds onto the same hope.

“I want him to know he is not in trouble, and we love him and we just want him to return safely home and he will not be in trouble for nothing that he has done in the past,” Jurado said as a message to her son in case he is alive. “We just want to move forward and bring him home to the family. We miss him, we love him, and we will not stop searching. I will not leave this site until he is OK.”

Victoria Franco is a reporter based in Stockton covering San Joaquin County for Bay City News Foundation and its nonprofit news site Local News Matters. She is a Report for America corps member.

Victoria Franco is a Stockton-based reporter covering the diverse news around the Central Valley as part of the Report for America program. As a Stockton native, Franco is proud to cover stories within her community and report a variety of coverage. She is a San Jose State University alumna with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. In her collegiate years she was Managing Editor for the Spartan Daily. From her time at the Spartan Daily she helped lead her staff to California College Media Awards and a General Excellence first place. Victoria encourages readers to email her story tips and ideas at victoria.franco@baycitynews.com.