ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The body of the missing swimmer last seen in the area of Mickler's Landing Sunday was recovered Monday morning.
St. Johns County Fire Rescue said the family of the swimmer, identified as a 20-year-old man, made the call reporting him missing at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.
The man's body was found near where he originally went missing, about a block North of Mickler's Landing officials said.
Members of the Coast Guard, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and St. Johns County Fire Rescue had been searching for the swimmer since Sunday.
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office is not releasing the identity of the swimmer at the family's request.
“I noticed there was no stand just to the left of where we come down, and there was no stand and no flag," said Lyndi Francisco while visiting the beach.
Francisco says the lifeguard stand is one of the first things she looks for when she brings her two young daughters to Mickler’s Landing, even on a nice day.
“We’ve even been out here on days where a storm was circling, and they changed the flag to indicate that storm has impacted the current and riptides, so we packed up and left," said Francisco.
St. Johns County Fire Rescue Spokesperson Chris Naff says lifeguard towers are pulled back after Labor Day, so posting flags at each of the 47 beach accesses requires staffing they don’t have in the Fall and Winter.
“If there’s flags posted, people automatically assume there’s a lifeguard on the beach when there’s not, when we’re just doing routine patrols in our vehicles," said Naff.
There weren’t flags posted when the swimmer disappeared in the surf. Naff says the rough conditions interfered with the rescue operation.
“We use a lot of jet skis, especially in the surf zone area, because they are a little more nimble," Naff said. "Two of our rescuers, we had a wave hit them pretty good so they got knocked off. We have kill switches and stuff, so they were able to jump back on.”
The swimmer’s body was recovered nearly 24 hours after he was last seen, at nearly the same spot he disappeared.
“It is hard," he said. "It’s hard to tell someone that they’ve passed away or that they’re missing.”
St. Johns County Fire Rescue was involved in another rescue for a swimmer stuck in a rip current near Ponte Vedra Beach Inn and Club. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Naff says St. Johns County pushes flag conditions and lifeguard staffing out on social media, but they’ve received several inquiries from the public about the flags during the dangerous weekend on the water.
“We are looking at doing a change to that policy in the near future," he said. "I think you’re going to see some different signage and things like that.”
Francisco will keep a look out every time she takes the kids to the beach.
“Something that could indicate a little bit of extra safety just because you never know what could happen," she said. "Even though I’m sitting here watching them the whole time, you just never know."