Three young fathers drown during weekend trip to Florida coast after getting trapped in rip current

By James On Jun 23, 2024

America’s deadliest rip currents claimed their last victims Friday when three young friends were swept to their deaths within minutes of entering the water.

Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24, were among a group of six who left their home in Birmingham, Alabama for a weekend at an AirBnB next to Panama City Beach in Florida.

A teenager had died on the spot the night before, but the young friends were desperate to get into the water after their long drive, despite a single red flag warning of the danger.

Ten minutes later the first 911 call was made, but it took two hours for the men to be found and taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

“I am praying for their families and asking you to do the same,” Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said in a Facebook post. “It’s such a tragedy.”

Jemonda Ray disappeared with his friends minutes after entering the water

Ray and his cousin Marius Richardson were like ‘peas in a pod’ according to Ray’s mother

Ray and Richardson were cousins who grew up as brothers, their family said al.comwhile Hunter was one of their friends.

Ray, who graduated from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, worked at Amazon and had a son, while Richardson was married and had a 2-year-old.

“He kept everyone with a smile on his face,” Ray’s mother Iris said of her son. “He was the sweetest person. He made sure he saw me every day.

“The detective told me they tried to return to shore, but the current got the best of them.”

More people were killed by rip currents in Panama City last year than anywhere else in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service.

They are defined as strong, localized, narrow water currents that move directly away from the coast, such as a river flowing into the sea.

Eight of Florida’s 30 fatalities occurred at a site 100 miles west of Tallahassee, and Friday’s deaths brought the number of deaths on the state’s beaches alone to six last week.

Nineteen-year-old Ryker Milton was visiting from Oklahoma, where he was in his first year of online seminary training before he was killed in a rip current on Panama City Beach on Thursday.

Harold Hunter, 25, who worked for a tire and brake company, is survived by both a young son and a daughter

The three friends were found about half a mile from where they entered the water

Dozens of volunteers shine their flashlights into the water to assist in the search

And Pennsylvania couple Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children when they were caught in a high tide north of West Palm Beach that same day.

Richardson’s wife was traveling Friday, along with Ray’s girlfriend and one of Hunter’s cousins.

What to do if you get caught in a rip current

If you find yourself in a rip current, don’t fight it.

Swim parallel to the shore and swim back to land diagonally.

Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that occur along the east, gulf, and west coasts of the US, as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes.

With speeds of up to 2.5 meters per second, rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer.

In the US, lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people from currents every year, but it is estimated that 100 people are killed by currents every year.

Source: National Ocean Service

Hunter, who worked for a tire and brake company, is survived by a young son and daughter.

“He was the life of the party,” said his sister Selina Black.

‘He always smiled. He wanted everyone there even when he was down, he was our own personal DJ. ‘This was all so unexpected and has hit the family hard.’

Iris Richardson said Ray and his cousin Marius grew up together and were “inseparable.”

“It was two peas in a pod,” she added.

Marius also worked hard,” she added. “He always took 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 separately within half a mile of where they entered the water at 8 p.m.

“They checked into their rental home and ran outside to get in the water,” Sheriff Ford wrote on Facebook the next day.

“My heart is so heavy this morning over the loss of three young visitors to our community.

“I saw so many people last night, including visitors to our community, gathering on the beach desperately searching for them,” he added. “The courageous actions of the first responders were amazing.

The men died just a day after Brian Warter, 51, and his girlfriend Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children after being caught in the current north of West Palm Beach.

“Many of our rescue swimmers from the Sheriff’s Office, Bay County Emergency Services and Panama City Beach entered the dark and dangerous waters for over two hours to attempt to rescue and search for the young men.

“I worry about the emotional toll these situations take on first responders because I know I struggle with them too.”