HUTCHINSON ISLAND, FL – A Pennsylvania couple visiting Hutchinson Island’s Stuart Beach in Florida with their six children unexpectedly drowned. The couple tragically lost their lives due to a rip current during their swim on Thursday afternoon.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office reported that while the couple’s teenage children were also swept up by the rip current, they managed to break free and get back to the shore.
The parents, identified as Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48, were not so fortunate. Martin County Ocean Rescue lifeguards took life-saving measures on the shore. The Martin County Fire Rescue paramedics continued these efforts en route to and at the Cleveland Clinic North. However, despite their best efforts to revive them, Warter and Wishard could not be revived.
Earlier on Thursday, Martin County Fire Rescue had warned Stuart Beach visitors that the surf was 4-6 feet high and that there could be dangerous rip currents. They advised that only strong swimmers should enter the water. Martin County Fire Rescue also recommended that beach-goers visit one of their guarded beaches.
The sheriff’s office is currently providing assistance to the couple’s six children through its Crisis Intervention Team until other family members can arrive in Florida to take care of them.