San Joaquin River Drowning Victim IDENTIFIED As Rising Star Honor Student

Neng Thao, a rising star student headed for U.C. Berkeley in the fall, has been identified as the man who drowned in the San Joaquin River Saturday afternoon, according to his family.

Thao, 18, was set to graduate from Edison High School in June and was recently reappointed to the City’s Youth Commission.

A GoFundMe page that was setup to help out with funeral expenses says, “Neng Thao was the youngest of 10 children. His parents are Cheryia Thao and Chong Vang. He recently celebrated his 18th birthday with friends and family and was a senior at Edison High School. Neng had planned to graduate June 5 as valedictorian of his senior class, graduating with a 4.3 GPA and high honors. Neng was a member of Life California Honor, where he worked beside the Mayor of Fresno, and was a City Council Youth Officer.

He was accepted to UC Berkeley, and planned to major in Political Science along with Pre-Med. He had a passion for working in the community . His dream was to become a pharmacist, and hopefully one day run for office.

On May 20, 2017, Neng celebrated his older brother’s great achievements of receiving Fresno State’s top honor for a graduate student at Fresno State. Later on that day, he tragically passed away. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. We will keep everyone posted.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends at this difficult time.