3 drown off beaches
DESTIN (AP) – Authorities say two swimmers and a kayaker drowned off Panhandle beaches over the Easter weekend.
The Destin Fire Control District says 39-year-old Joseph Jones from Riverdale, Ga., died Friday after going into the water off Destin to help others caught in a rip current. The others survived.
An unidentified airman stationed at Eglin Air Force Base drowned later Friday after being caught in a rip current also off Destin while tossing a football back and forth in waist-deep water with his brother-in-law.
Authorities say red flags warning beach goers to stay out of the water because of the rip currents flew throughout the weekend.
Fourteen-year-old Trevor Mills of Panama City Beach died Sunday night following a kayaking accident in the Gulf of Mexico.