Florida authorities discover unrelated body during search for missing diver

After an extensive search along the Florida coast, search teams made a grim discovery on Monday. They found a male body, but it was not the missing diver they had been hoping to locate. Despite this setback, authorities remain determined to continue their efforts in finding the missing individual.

According to a news release by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, the missing diver from Sunday does not bear any resemblance to the individual in question, based on their clothing and physical attributes.

The authorities are currently unaware of the identity of the man who was recovered from the water. According to the sheriff, there are no missing person reports in the county that match the description of the body. The man, estimated to be over 50 years old and weighing between 200 and 225 pounds, remains unidentified.

Authorities stated that the body did not seem to have been in the water for a long time. Medical examiners are currently investigating the cause of death and trying to determine the approximate time of death.

Virgil Price, a 39-year-old free diver from Florida, was reported missing on Sunday. According to the sheriff’s office, he was last seen wearing a green wet suit. Price had been engaged in freediving near the Halsey, a shipwreck from World War II, when he failed to resurface.

About 130 miles north of Miami, the sunken ship found its permanent home on May 6, 1942, during its journey from Corpus Christi, Texas, to New York. After being hit by a torpedo, the ship settled on a sandy seabed, 65 feet below the water’s surface, as reported by Fishing Status.

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The U.S. Coast Guard has announced on social media that they have halted the search for Price. After scouring 1,415 miles and conducting a search for 36 hours, they have made the difficult decision to suspend the active search. Lt. Cmdr. John Beal expressed their condolences to Mr. Price’s family, emphasizing that the decision was not made lightly.

Authorities are actively pursuing both investigations.

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