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A diver's disappearance off Florida's coast took a puzzling turn when search teams chanced upon a different body adrift in the waters. Virgil Price, aged 39, went missing on May 12th while free diving near Fort Pierce Inlet. However, the following day, while searching for the missing Florida diver, crews made an unsettling find - retrieving the remains of an unidentified man from the Atlantic.
Authorities state the recovered body around 16 miles northeast of the inlet is not that of the missing diver Price. The deceased individual weighed an estimated 200 to 225 pounds and seemed over 50 years old. His attire and physical traits did not align with Price's description. As of currently, no open missing person reports in St. Lucie County match the identification of the body taken from the ocean.
The U.S. Coast Guard is exploring the unidentified man's cause of death. An autopsy would likely disclose the probable time and cause of death. The St. Lucie County Sheriff's squad aided the Coast Guard in finding the body late on the 13th, and according to them, the body did not appear to have been in the ocean for a considerable time.
While the enigma surrounding the recovered remains deepens, the search effort to locate Virgil Price has regrettably been suspended. On Monday evening, Coast Guard officials made the arduous call to cease active search and rescue operations for the vanished diver. Over a 36-hour period, crews meticulously swept across 1,415 square miles of ocean, hunting for any trace of Price.
"Ending an active search is never an easy choice. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Mr. Price's loved ones," stated Lt. Commander John Beal. Despite the relentless hunt scouring the waters near Fort Pierce, Price's whereabouts remain unknown.
Price was last spotted around 10 am that Sunday, roughly 13 miles southeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet. He was free diving at the wreck location of the S.S. Halsey alongside three other divers. During World War II in 1942, The Halsey, a merchant vessel, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. The fragmented 65-foot-deep sections of the shipwreck are a renowned dive destination.
When Price failed to resurface, his three diving companions quickly raised the alarm. The Coast Guard instantly initiated a wide-ranging air and sea search mission. Numerous aircraft and boats scoured the area round the clock where Price was last seen. Private vessels also joined the urgent hunt to try to locate the missing man.
Despite the unrelenting, multi-day sweeps by various Coast Guard units, search parties were unable to uncover any signs of the 39-year-old diver. On Monday evening, with a heavy heart, Coast Guard officials made the painful decision to cease active search efforts. Resources and personnel will now revert to routine maritime operations.
While one missing person case may be dormant for now, a fresh mystery has surfaced with the recovered but unidentified body. St. Lucie officials confirm they have no active missing person reports locally matching the man's description. His identity and how he ended up deceased at sea remain under examination.
While the initial examination of the body does not suggest any criminal misconduct, the cause of death can only be determined once the postmortem examination is done. The medical examiner's office also expects to unearth details about the unnamed individual from the postmortem - probable time of death, identification markings, and how long his remains were adrift prior to being located.
For the present, the secluded stretch of Florida's coastline near Fort Pierce is left grappling with two interlinked riddles. One case revolves around a diver who inexplicably vanished while exploring a historic shipwreck. The other concerns the unknown deceased man found floating not far from where crews looked for the missing Virgil Price.
As the Coast Guard suspends the search for Price, they pass the baton to local authorities investigating the recovered body. Both this unidentified individual and the missing diver's families now await answers to the paramount question - what precisely transpired with their loved ones in those waters off Florida's eastern shores? Two cryptic cases, interconnected by location, timing, and the perilous marine environs they unfolded in.
