A fifth beachgoer drowned in just four days during sweltering heat at a popular Florida vacation spot.
The victim, a 60-year-old woman visiting from Missouri, was the latest to die in a deadly rip current in Panama City Beach on Sunday.
Debbie Szymanski was with her family at the beach near Carillon when she went swimming around 11:30 a.m. before her family realized she was unresponsive.
They rushed into the water, grabbed her and dragged her to shore before emergency services arrived and took her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
His death comes after three men drowned on Friday and a teenager died in Gulf waters on Thursday.
Fifth beachgoer in just four days drowned at popular Florida vacation spot
Szymanski was on vacation with his family before the deadly rip current caused his tragic death.
Sheriff’s deputies and emergency services rushed to the scene in a desperate attempt to save his life, but he died at the hospital.
Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said, “I am concerned about the emotional toll these situations take on first responders, as I know I am struggling with it myself.”
It came after three young friends were swept to death within minutes of entering the water on Friday.
Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24, were among a group of six who left their homes in Birmingham, Alabama, to spend a weekend at an AirBnB next to Panama City Beach in Florida.
A teenager died at the scene on Thursday, but the young friends were desperate to get into the water after their long journey despite a single red flag warning of danger.
Ten minutes later the first 911 call was made, but two hours passed before the men were found and taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Ray and Richardson were cousins who grew up like brothers, their family told al.com, while Hunter was one of their friends.
Debbie Szymanski, a 60-year-old woman visiting from Missouri, was the latest to die in a deadly riptide in Panama City Beach on Sunday.
The tragic death came after Jemonda Ray (left), Marius Richardson (right) and Harold Hunter were swept to death within minutes of entering the water on Friday.
Harold Hunter, 25, who worked for a tire and brake company, leaves behind a young son and daughter.
Ray, who graduated from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, worked at Amazon and had a son, while Richardson was married with a two-year-old son.
“He kept everyone with smiles on their faces,” Ray’s mother Iris said of her son. ‘He was the sweetest person. He made sure to see me every day.
“The detective told me they were trying to get back to shore, but the current got the best of them.”
Sheriff Ford reacted to the news of their deaths, saying: ‘This morning I am deeply saddened by the loss of three young visitors to our community.
‘I am praying for his family and ask you to do the same. “It is a great tragedy.”
Rip currents killed more people in Panama City than anywhere else in the United States last year, according to the National Weather Service.
They are defined as strong, localized and narrow currents of water that move away directly from the shore, like a river that flows into the sea.
Eight of Florida’s 30 deaths occurred at the site 100 miles west of Tallahassee, and Friday’s deaths brought to six the death toll on the state’s beaches last week alone.
Nineteen-year-old Ryker Milton was visiting from Oklahoma, where he was in his first year of online seminar training before he died in a rip current in Panama City Beach on Thursday.
And Pennsylvania couple Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children when they became trapped in a high tide that same day north of West Palm Beach.
Richardson’s wife was on Friday’s trip along with Ray’s girlfriend and one of Hunter’s cousins.
The men died just a day after Brian Warter, 51, and his girlfriend Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children after getting caught in a rip current north of West Palm Beach.
Hunter, who worked for a tire and brake company, leaves behind a young son and daughter.
“He was the life of the party,” said his sister, Selina Black.
“He was always smiling. He wanted everyone to be up, even when he was down, he was our personal DJ. “This was all so unexpected and hit the family hard.”
Iris Richardson said Ray and his cousin Marius had grown up together and were “inseparable”.
“It was two peas in a pod,” he added.
“Marius was also a very hard worker,” he added. ‘He was always taking care of his family. He was a good person.’
Dozens of volunteers searched the water for signs of the three young men as a search helicopter beamed down from above.
The three men were found separated about a half-mile from where they had entered the water at 8 p.m.
“They checked into the rental vehicle and ran out into the water,” Sheriff Ford wrote the next day on Facebook.
‘This morning I am very saddened by the loss of three young visitors to our community.
“Last night I saw so many people, including visitors to our community, gather on the beach to desperately search for them,” he added. ‘The acts of bravery by the first responders were amazing.
‘Many of our rescue swimmers from the Sheriff’s Office, Bay County Emergency Services and Panama City Beach waded into the dark and dangerous waters for over two hours to attempt to rescue and search for the young men.
“I am concerned about the emotional toll these situations take on first responders, as I know I am struggling with it too.”
