Body found on Gulf Coast beach is 4th drowning victim in under 24 hours

Body found on Gulf Coast beach is 4th drowning victim in under 24 hours

A man’s body was found around midday on a beach in Pensacola, marking the fourth apparent drowning death in less than 24 hours in the Pensacola area.

Rescue personnel from the Pensacola Fire Department responded to a report of a missing swimmer near the Sanders Beach Community Center around 10:35 a.m. Thursday, according to TV station WEAR.

The body of a male drowning victim was found along Sanders Beach in Pensacola, Fla., Thursday.

By 11:10 a.m., the man’s body had been located nearby on Sanders Beach.

Earlier Thursday, the bodies of two juveniles — one male, one female were found on a beach near Naval Air Station Pensacola, hours after the a woman’s body was found in the same general area.

NAS Pensacola, through the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed the three victims were members of a U.S. Marine’s family, although their identities have not been released.

The Sanders Beach drowning brings the total number of known drownings on Florida Panhandle beaches this summer to 17.