HOUSTON – The family of a drowning victim is waiting for an apology after they say a Houston firefighter made a racist comment about their loved one on Facebook.
Gracie Gonzalez's father, Victor, was spending the day out on Lake Houston Friday afternoon fishing and swimming with a buddy.
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But when the 47-year-old man jumped in the lake for a swim, something happened and he slipped below the water and never resurfaced.
The Gonzalez family said a Facebook post, which appears to be written by firefighter Kerry Williams during the search, is racist.
It reads in part: "late night search for a drunk guy on Lake Houston."
About an hour later at 1:30 a.m., Williams posted "...we are done with our search no body recover no 'drunk Mexican'."
Gonzalez's body was found floating on Saturday.
The Houston Fire Department told Local 2, "It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation, except to say that we take violations of this nature very seriously. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim. Comments like these are not a reflection of the nearly 4000 men and women of the HFD who perform their jobs everyday with courage and compassion."
The victim's family says even though HFD issued a statement, they would still like an apology directly from someone within the department.