America's deadliest rip currents claimed their latest victims on Friday when three young friends were swept to their deaths within minutes of entering the water.
Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24, were among a group of six who left their homes in Birmingham, Alabama for a weekend in an AirBnB next to Florida's Panama City Beach.
A teenager had died at the spot the previous evening but the young friends were desperate to get in the water after their long drive despite a single red flag warning of the danger.
Ten minutes later the first 911 call was made, but it was two hours before the men were found and taken to hospital where they were declared dead.
'I'm praying for their family and ask that you do the same,' said Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford in a Facebook post. 'It is such a tragedy.'
Jemonda Ray disappeared with his friends minutes after entering the water
Ray and his cousin Marius Richardson were like 'peas in a pod' according to Ray's mother
Ray and Richardson were cousins who grew up like brothers, their family told al.com, while Hunter was one of their friends.
Ray, who graduated from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, worked at Amazon and had a baby son, while Richardson was married with a two-year-old.
'He kept everybody with smiles on his face,' Ray's mother Iris said of her son. 'He was the sweetest person. He made sure he saw me every day.
'The detective told me they were trying to make it back to shore, but the current got the best of them.'
Rip currents killed more people at Panama City than anywhere else in the US last year, according to the National Weather Service.
They are defined as strong, localized, narrow currents of water that move directly away from the shore, like a river flowing out to sea.
Eight of Florida's 30 fatalities occurred at the site 100 miles west of Tallahassee, and Friday's deaths brought to six the number killed on the state's beaches last week alone.
Nineteen-year-old Ryker Milton was visiting from Oklahoma where he was in his first year of online seminary training before dying in a rip current on Panama City Beach on Thursday.
Harold Hunter, 25, who worked for a tire and brake company, leaves behind both a young son and a daughter
The three friends were found around half a mile from where they entered the water
Dozens of volunteers shone their flashlights into the water to help with the search
And Pennsylvania couple Brian Warter, 51 and Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children when they were caught in a rip tide that same day north of West Palm Beach.
Richardson's wife was on Friday's trip along with Ray's girlfriend and one of Hunter's cousins.
What to do if you are caught in a rip current
If caught in a rip current, don't fight it.
Swim parallel to the shore and swim back to land at an angle.
Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that are prevalent along the East, Gulf, and West coasts of the U.S., as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes.
Moving at speeds of up to eight feet per second, rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer.
Lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people from rip currents in the U.S. every year, but it is estimated that 100 people are killed by rip currents annually.
Source: National Ocean Service
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Hunter, who worked for a tire and brake company, leaves behind a young son and daughter.
'He was the life of the party,' his sister, Selina Black said.
'He was always smiling. He wanted everybody up, even when he was down, he was our own personal DJ. 'This was all so unexpected and hit the family hard.'
Iris Richardson said Ray and his cousin, Marius, had grown up together and were 'inseparable'.
'They were two peas in a pod,' she added.
Marius was hardworking too,' she added. 'He was always taking care of his family. He was a good person.'
Dozens of volunteers scoured the water for signs of the three young men as a search helicopter shone down a beam from above.
The three men were found separately within half a mile of where they had entered the water at 8pm.
'They checked into their rental and rushed out to get in the water,' Sheriff Ford wrote next day on Facebook.
'I have such a heavy heart this morning about the loss of three young visitors to our community.
'I witnessed so many people, including visitors to our community, come together last night on the beach to desperately search for them,' he added. 'The acts of courage by first responders were amazing.
The men died just a day after Brian Warter, 51 and his girlfriend Erica Wishart, 48, drowned in front of their six children after being caught in rip current north of West Palm Beach
'Many of our rescue swimmers with the sheriff's office, Bay County Emergency Services and Panama City Beach went into the dark and dangerous waters for over two hours to attempt to rescue and search for the young men.
'I worry about the emotional toll that these situations take on first responders as I know I'm struggling with it as well.'
