The family of a 15-year-old Stagg High School student who jumped into the Calaveras River in Stockton and was found dead following a six-day search set up a donation account this week for a funeral service.

The family of Xavier Martinez created a GoFundMe account for donations. As of Thursday afternoon, more than $2,500 was donated and the goal is set for $10,000 with a service scheduled for next Wednesday.

Martinez along with a friend were believed to have jumped into the river across from Stagg High School on March 13 following a campus fight.

When the friend made it out of the river, he told a school resource officer he didn’t believe Martinez had made it out.

A six-day search of the boy conducted by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office Boating Unit ultimately could not find any sign of Martinez. 

Rescue personnel search the Calaveras River near Stagg High School in Stockton on March 13 for missing 15-year-old Xavier Martinez. A volunteer diver discovered the teen’s body Tuesday morning, close to the location where he was last seen. (Victoria Franco/Bay City News)

However, Martinez’s family was given closure Tuesday when a local volunteer diver, Juan Heredia, took it upon himself to search the body of the water in the same area Martinez had jumped into.

Within 30 minutes of being in the low-visibility water, Heredia was able to find the body of Martinez and the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed it was the Stagg High student.

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.