The search for a missing 15-year-old Jacksonville Beach swimmer came to a tragic end today as the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office (SJSO) confirmed the body found on Ponte Vedra Beach is indeed that of the young teen. The teen went missing while swimming near the lifeguard station at Jacksonville Beach on Saturday afternoon, with witnesses reporting him caught in a rip current. Despite exhaustive search efforts by Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, SJSO, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Air Unit, the JSO Marine Unit, and the U.S. Coast Guard, it was a grim conclusion to a hopeful search.
According to First Coast News, the teen’s body was discovered near 65 Ponte Vedra Blvd. The teen, described as being 5-foot-8 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds, was last seen wearing black and red swim trunks. The discovery of his body followed an intensive search that spanned the past two days.
Details of the incident first emerged after beachgoers alerted an Ocean Rescue Lifeguard to a swimmer in distress, as documented in a statement provided to News4Jax. The search initially focused on the swimmer’s last known position and quickly transitioned to recovery operations on Saturday evening, considering the perilous nature of currents and the time the swimmer had been missing…