St. Lucie County - Monday May 13, 2024: The search continues for a missing 39-year-old man who never re-surfaced after his last known free-dive in the area of the Halsey shipwreck Sunday morning. The shipwreck is located about 13 miles southeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet, offshore from St. Lucie County.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has identified the missing free-diver as Virgil Price of West Palm Beach. He was last seen wearing a green wetsuit with an orange stripe on the hood, yellow weights on his weight belt, and black carbon fiber fins.
Price was free-diving with three other people. He had reportedly had made a number of free-dives over the wreck area, but he failed to come back up after his last known dive. His fellow divers reported last seeing him go down on a dive around 10 AM Sunday morning. They reported him missing and a search was launched immediately.
The U.S. Coast Guard is the lead agency searching for Price. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is leading the boating investigation. The SLC Sheriff's Office, including their dive team, also joined the search effort Sunday.
As of 1 PM Monday afternoon Price had not yet been found.