NASHUA – Family members and friends of Shea Patno, the 15-year-old Nashua youth who drowned in Dunstable Friday while swimming with friends, are planning to gather at 7:30 this evening for a candlelight vigil in his honor.

The vigil, for which attendees are asked to bring candles and wear facemasks, will take place in the park adjacent to New Searles Elementary School, 39 Shady Lane.

Patno, a rising sophomore at Nashua High School South, was swimming in Bass Pond, part of the Dunstable Rural Land Trust, when he disappeared underwater and didn’t resurface, officials said.

His friends, unable to find him, contacted emergency personnel around 4:15 p.m.

Nashua Fire Rescue dive team joined Dunstable fire and police officials in the search, which was conducted from shore and in boats.

Patno was located nearly two hours later in about 13 feet of water. He was rushed to a Nashua hospital, and later pronounced dead.

“Shea Patno was tragically taken from family and friends on July 10, 2020. He was taken too soon, his heart was full of love and laughter. Now he is an angel watching over us,” family friend Anna Waldron wrote on the GoFundMe account she set up on behalf of the family.

Scores of messages of condolence and tribute appeared on social media over the weekend and into Monday, including from Nashua Teachers Union president Adam Marcoux and Superintendent of Schools Jahmal Mosley.

–DEAN SHALHOUP