CHINCOTEAGUE, VA - An 18-year-old swimmer who drowned at Assateauge Island National Seashore in the waters off of Virginia's portion of the U.S. National Park on July 24 has been identified as 18-year-old Cresencio Lucas Chavez Velasquez of Parksley, Virginia.
According to park officials, lifeguards responded to reports of two swimmers struggling in the ocean near the southern end of the Chincoteague Beach Parking Lot at about 4:15 p.m. on July 24. One of the swimmers was successfully rescued, while the other was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive.
Park officials say lifeguards attempted CPR and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital, but did not survive.
The incident reportedly occurred 150 yards south of the lifeguard zone of Virginia's Assateague Island National Seashore Beach, but officials say on-duty lifeguards responded swiftly.
The death came just a week after lifeguards returned to the Virginia side of the national park following federal budget cuts. The Maryland portion of Assateague Island National Parks remains without lifeguards.
"We ask our visitors to never venture too far from shore and pay attention to wind and currents which can transport you long distances quickly," a spokesperson for the National Park Service said in a statement on July 26.