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USAirways utility employee drowns saving life of child.
Officials halt search for possible drowning victim
Kent Sandefur, 36, of South Carolina was swimming when he disappeared Thursday afternoon.
Dana Clark Felty
Rescuers called off a 13-hour search Friday morning for a South Carolina man believed to have drowned off Tybee Island.
Kent Sandefur, 36, was swimming in the ocean on the north side of the island near the Savannah Beach Racquet Club. At around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, someone noticed Sandefur and a young boy swimming near him struggling in the water, said Cpl. Jason Heckman of the Tybee police.
An out-of-town police officer vacationing at the beach was able to pull the boy to safety.
The officer returned to rescue Sandefur but could not find him, Heckman said.
Local police contacted the Coast Guard at 4 p.m., reporting Sandefur as missing and possibly carried out to sea by the rip currents near Tybee Inlet.
Responders from the Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Station Tybee, Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and local lifeguards searched throughout the night and Friday morning.
At 10:45 a.m. Friday, the rescue mission turned into a search for Sandefur's remains.
"One of the hardest decisions I have to make as a commanding officer is to suspend a search when people are still missing," said Capt. James Tunstall, commanding officer of Coast Guard Group Charleston, S.C. "Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends. We want the family to know we, along with our partners, put all our resources into finding Kent Sandefur."
Reporters were unable to locate his family or friends for comment.
Recent drownings at the beach have been limited to adults, said Judy Hartley, injury control spokeswoman for SAFE KIDS with the Chatham County Health Department.
"I think adults go out pretty far when they sometimes are not accustomed to the rip tides," Hartley said.
Since 1995, seven men between the ages of 21 and 39 have died in Tybee's waters.
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Kent was a utility employee in CLT, formerly CLT stock clerk and formerly IND utility
After searching all day for the body of a man who drowned off Tybee Island, dive teams have called off the search. Thirty-six year old Kent Sandefur died Thursday saving a six year old boy.
Investigators say Sandefur was at the beach with his family. He was with a church group from South Carolina. Sandefur was on the shore when he noticed his pastor's son out on a sandbar. The boy was in trouble so he ran out to save him. A passerby saw what was happening and ran out to help.
"He had gone under but he pushed the kid toward shore," Larry Roberts, from Portage, Indiana. "That little kid was swimming as hard as he could."
U.S. Coast Guard crews along with Tybee Island lifeguards will continue to search the shoreline. Kent Sandefur was married with three children
Officials halt search for possible drowning victim
Kent Sandefur, 36, of South Carolina was swimming when he disappeared Thursday afternoon.
Dana Clark Felty
Rescuers called off a 13-hour search Friday morning for a South Carolina man believed to have drowned off Tybee Island.
Kent Sandefur, 36, was swimming in the ocean on the north side of the island near the Savannah Beach Racquet Club. At around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, someone noticed Sandefur and a young boy swimming near him struggling in the water, said Cpl. Jason Heckman of the Tybee police.
An out-of-town police officer vacationing at the beach was able to pull the boy to safety.
The officer returned to rescue Sandefur but could not find him, Heckman said.
Local police contacted the Coast Guard at 4 p.m., reporting Sandefur as missing and possibly carried out to sea by the rip currents near Tybee Inlet.
Responders from the Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Station Tybee, Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and local lifeguards searched throughout the night and Friday morning.
At 10:45 a.m. Friday, the rescue mission turned into a search for Sandefur's remains.
"One of the hardest decisions I have to make as a commanding officer is to suspend a search when people are still missing," said Capt. James Tunstall, commanding officer of Coast Guard Group Charleston, S.C. "Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends. We want the family to know we, along with our partners, put all our resources into finding Kent Sandefur."
Reporters were unable to locate his family or friends for comment.
Recent drownings at the beach have been limited to adults, said Judy Hartley, injury control spokeswoman for SAFE KIDS with the Chatham County Health Department.
"I think adults go out pretty far when they sometimes are not accustomed to the rip tides," Hartley said.
Since 1995, seven men between the ages of 21 and 39 have died in Tybee's waters.
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Kent was a utility employee in CLT, formerly CLT stock clerk and formerly IND utility
After searching all day for the body of a man who drowned off Tybee Island, dive teams have called off the search. Thirty-six year old Kent Sandefur died Thursday saving a six year old boy.
Investigators say Sandefur was at the beach with his family. He was with a church group from South Carolina. Sandefur was on the shore when he noticed his pastor's son out on a sandbar. The boy was in trouble so he ran out to save him. A passerby saw what was happening and ran out to help.
"He had gone under but he pushed the kid toward shore," Larry Roberts, from Portage, Indiana. "That little kid was swimming as hard as he could."
U.S. Coast Guard crews along with Tybee Island lifeguards will continue to search the shoreline. Kent Sandefur was married with three children
