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Swimmer goes missing following distress call in South Beach; search efforts continue

By Samantha Sosa, Aaron Page, Rubén Rosario, Dannielle Garcia

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    MIAMI BEACH, Florida (WSVN) — A swimmer has gone missing in deep waters in Miami Beach for more than 24 hours, prompting ongoing large-scale search efforts by rescue crews.

The swimmer went missing in the area of 100 South Point Drive, by the jetty, at around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

According to Miami Beach Police, they received 911 calls about two swimmers in distress just over a half-hour later.

Witness Marcus Pearson, who works in the area, told 7News there was a group of people struggling in the water were asking for help.

“The winds were very strong the red flags were out,” he said.

“At the time, I saw like five or six of them coming out of the water, and one of them was holding – one of them, a gentleman, assisting him out of the water,” he said. “As soon as he got to the shoreline, he kind of collapsed; I guess he was just so tired. There was a young lady that was part of the group, and she was screaming, ‘Where’s my brother? Where’s my brother?’”

Police were called, and Pearson said he led officers to the area wherea man described as being in his 20s this happened went missing.

“They followed me to the location where it happened. At that point, everyone got out, got their flashlights, we were looking in the water, and we just kept looking,” said Pearson.

Coast Guard Sector Miami watchstanders received an agency assist request from Miami Beach Fire Rescue at around 6:30 p.m. An urgent marine information broadcast was issued soon after, and Miami Beach Fire Rescue assumed incident commander for the case.

“The Coast Guard came out with their helicopters,” said the witness who spoke with 7News.

A search spanning about a mile saw helicopters flying above the area, while Miami Beach Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units searched the beach and oceans before calling off the search at around 9 p.m.

“The family were all there. I stayed behind with them until about 10 o’clock looking at the shoreline to see if he would wash up, and unfortunately, it didn’t happen, so it’s a tragedy,” said Pearson.

Rescue teams searched again Sunday morning, to no avail.

7News cameras captured choppy waters on Miami Beach, Sunday afternoon, as strong rip currents persisted.

Pearson said conditions on the water have been particularly bad, and he has already seen multiple water rescues in the area over the past week.

“The location where they went in has two areas of rip currents that they happen right there, so depending where you’re swimming, you could get caught in the middle, or you could get caught in one of those jet streams,” he said.

Officials offered advice to anyone who gets caught up in one.

“The best way if you are caught into a rip current, is you basically don’t panic, try to wave for help. Try to swim parallel to shore. Rip currents by nature tend to be narrow, so by being able to swim parallel to shore you can get out of the rip current. You could use the waves in that situation to try to get yourself back in,” said Beach Patrol Supervisor Yovany Vidal.

Vidal said they’ve been advising the public about the rip currents and the sea’s rough conditions.

“We’ve had pretty much red flags. We’ve been advising the public, it’s been on the news. We’ve been making announcements, there’s been rip currents and strong conditions,” he said

Saturday’s missing swimmer call follows two deadly boating crashes.

North of Key Largo, three people were ejected from their boat when the driver made a sharp turn. 21-year-old Eytan Genoune from Boynton Beach did not survive.

And in Key West on Thursday another crash claimed the life of 18-year-old Stephanie Rodriguez from Hialeah.

She was ejected with several other passengers when the driver made a hard turn into a sandbar. It is unclear if the boat operator will face charges

As of Monday afternoon, police said this remains an active missing persons investigation.

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