The parents, Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48, were swept out to sea despite the valiant rescue attempts of their teenage children. The incident took place off Stuart Beach in Hutchinson Island on Thursday afternoon, as reported by ABC News.
According to The Post Millennial, Martin County Ocean Rescue discovered the couple and made desperate attempts to resuscitate them through CPR on the shore. However, the parents of six were later pronounced dead at the hospital, as confirmed by officials. The sheriff's office has since deployed its crisis intervention team deputy to support the children as they await the arrival of family members in Florida.
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In the wake of the incident, the beach has been temporarily closed to the public. Authorities have stated that they will reassess the conditions on Friday morning. This heartbreaking event is part of a larger pattern of extreme rip currents that have been affecting East Coast beaches, stretching from Florida to New York, over the past week. CBS News reported that these currents have resulted in four additional deaths and necessitated the rescue of over 150 swimmers.
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In a separate incident on Friday evening, three men from Birmingham, Alabama also fell victim to a rip current while vacationing in Panama City Beach. The deceased have been identified as Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24.
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Gio Serrano, a lieutenant with Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, offered some insight into the deceptive nature of rip currents. He told CBS News that these currents can often be a trap as they typically appear without waves.
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Serrano advised that if an individual finds themselves caught in a rip current, they should avoid fighting against it or swimming directly back to shore. Instead, they should swim sideways until they are out of the current, then start swimming back to the shore diagonally. He added that swimming in this manner near a lifeguard tower would alert the lifeguards that the person is in need of assistance.
