Parents of six tragically drown during beach vacation

A Pennsylvania family of eight was at the beach in Hutchinson Island, Fla., Thursday to enjoy some sun and water. Things took a tragic turn when four of the family members were swept out by a rip current.

According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office , 51-year-old Brian Warter and 48-year-old Erica Wishard were caught up in the current, along with two of their six children, who are mostly teens. While the teens were able to break out of the current and attempt to help their parents, they eventually had to swim to shore.

“Martin County Ocean Rescue located the victims and began CPR on shore,” said the sheriff’s office. “Those life-saving efforts continued in the ambulance and at the hospital where doctors gave it every last effort before declaring the couple deceased.”

After the incident, a Martin County Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team Deputy assisted the couple’s children as they awaited the arrival of other family members into Florida.

Hutchinson Island is a barrier island in the middle of the Treasure Coast of Florida, said the Hutchinson Island tourism site. At 23 miles long, it extends through St. Lucie and Martin Counties and is bordered by the Atlantic Coast on the east and the Indian River on the west.

“Anyone who visits a surf beach, whether at the ocean or large bodies of water like the Great Lakes, is exposed to the danger of rip currents,” according to the National Weather Service . “They are the #1 hazard at a surf beach, leading to tens of thousands of rescues by lifeguards and over 100 drowning fatalities every year in the United States.”

Last June, Audacy reported on the death of 47-year-old Christopher Pierce, who jumped into the surf off of Panama City Beach, Fla., to save his daughter Taylor from rip tide during a Father’s Day outing. Like Warter and Wishard, Pierce perished in the water.