The search for a missing Florida diver took a bizarre turn when the body of an unrelated person was found.
Searchers combing the coast near the Fort Pierce Inlet for Virgil Price made the surprise discovery of a different man on Monday afternoon.
“His clothing and physical characteristics do not match those of the missing diver from Sunday,” the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The identity of the man taken out of the water was unknown and did not match the description of any missing person in the county, the sheriff’s office said. The man appeared to be over 50 years old.
Authorities are working to determine the cause and time of death for the unidentified man but said he did not seem to have been in the water for very long.
Price, 39, went missing Sunday morning while free diving at a WWII-era shipwreck in the same area about 130 miles north of Miami but did not resurface.
The U.S. Coast Guard had been searching for Price but said Monday night it was suspending its efforts “pending new info.” The military branch said it had covered more than 1,415 miles in 36 hours without finding a trace of Price.
“The decision to suspend an active search is never taken lightly. We extend our sincerest condolences to Mr. Price’s family,” Lt. Cmdr. John Beal said.
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