A Pennsylvania couple’s Florida vacation turned to horror as they drowned in front of their six children after they were caught in a rip current.
Brian Warter, 51 and his girlfriend Erica Wishart, 48, were at the beach behind the Marriott Hotel on Hutchinson Island, north of West Palm Beach, on Thursday afternoon when tragedy struck.
It was the couple’s children, who are mostly teenagers, who called 911.
Two of the teens had also been caught up in the current but managed to get to the shore.
They tried to help their parents but could not get to them as they current had become too dangerous.
Brian Warter, 51 and his girlfriend Erica Wishart, 48, were at the beach on Hutchinson Island, north of West Palm Beach, on Thursday afternoon when tragedy struck
‘Multiple witnesses told our investigators that both the male and female, who are now deceased, got in the ocean, right into a rip current and immediately were pulled from the shore,’ said Martin County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy John Bedensiek.
‘One of the children of the deceased tried to yell to them instructions on how to swim parallel to the shore, but they were in panic mode and unfortunately went under.’
Officials said the couple was unconscious when lifeguards pulled them out of the water and began performing CPR.
They were pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team Deputy assisted the couple’s children throughout the day and evening as they await the arrival of other family members into Florida, the sheriff’s office said.
Budensiek added: ‘They are teenagers. They’re not even in their 20s yet. They’ve been through two dramatic scenarios.
‘They’re on the beach and watched them drown. They watched the resuscitation efforts on the beach.
Brian Warter, 51 and Erica Wishard, 48, were at the beach behind the Marriott Hotel on Hutchinson Island, north of West Palm Beach, on Thursday afternoon when tragedy struck
‘They were at the hospital watching some resuscitation efforts, so they’re extremely traumatized.’
A red flag at the beach on Thursday indicated rough turf.
Warter’s parents Larry and Susie Warter told WPTV their world has been turned upside down after their son’s death.
Warter and Wishart had started dating a year and a half ago and had blended their families.
They went to Florida with Wishart’s four kids and Warter’s two sons, aged 22 and 20.
DailyMail.com has contacted the sheriff’s office for more information on this story.
Rips are strong, narrow currents that flow roughly from the shoreline through the surf and out to sea.
There are more than 100 deaths per year in the US attributed to rip currents, according to the United States Lifesaving Association – almost all of which are avoidable.
This year alone, rip currents have killed 39 people, according to the National Weather Service.
Nearly half of those were in Florida.