A multi-agency search operation carried out by Antigua and Barbuda’s maritime law enforcement teams ended in tragedy Thursday morning, when divers recovered the body of a 56-year-old male swimmer from the waters off Pigeon Point Beach. According to official timelines, the incident began on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24, when the victim entered the marked swim area for a recreational swim.
Witnesses on the shore told first responders that they spotted the man struggling in the water close to the edge of the designated swimming zone before he vanished beneath the surface, with no further sightings after that point. Immediately after receiving the missing person report, the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force Coast Guard mobilized its search and rescue assets, launching a coordinated operation with three partner groups: the Antigua Barbuda Search and Rescue unit, the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, and experienced local recreational divers based in the surrounding area.
Search teams carried out an extensive sweep of the seabed near the last reported location of the swimmer, but progress was severely hampered by extremely low underwater visibility. With conditions making it impossible to safely continue the operation on Wednesday afternoon, rescue commanders made the call to suspend the search, scheduling it to resume at first light the next day.
When divers returned to the site shortly after 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 25, they quickly located and recovered the victim’s body. The remains were transferred to the Coast Guard’s main headquarters at Deep Water Harbour, where a district medical official officially pronounced the man dead at 8:22 a.m. In the aftermath of the recovery, senior leadership of the ABDF Coast Guard released a statement offering heartfelt condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones, expressing the service’s hope that the family would find the resilience and comfort needed to navigate this devastating loss.