JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is now reporting a drowning after an hours-long search for a missing swimmer at Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville.
At about 1:45 p.m. Sunday, JSO officers at the park first received a report of a missing man last seen in the water.
As of 9:17 a.m. Monday, the search had been called off when JSO reported the drowning.
Police are set to give an update on the drowning in a news briefing at 10 a.m.
Several JSO units responded to the scene to assist with the search, including the air unit, marine unit, drone unit and dive unit.
In addition to JSO, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Ocean Rescue, the Fish and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Coast Guard also responded to the scene.
The man reportedly went into the water with two children, a JFRD official told First Coast News. The children are safe, rescuers at the scene have told officials.
First Coast News will update this story as more information becomes available.
Red flags have been flying along First Coast beaches for several days with dangerous rip currents.
Ocean Rescue Captain Rob Emahiser told First Coast News earlier in the week his teams had already made several rescues.
If you are caught in a rip current, do not swim directly towards the shore.
First, yell for help. Then, swim parallel to the shore until you are rescued or get out of the rip current. Once out of the rip current, you can attempt to swim back to shore.
Make sure you stay afloat and do not panic.