Parents Of 6 Drown In Ocean On FL Vacation

HUTCHISON ISLAND, FLORIDA — A Pennsylvania couple on vacation with their six children in Florida drowned in a powerful rip current while swimming in the ocean on Thursday afternoon, officials said.

Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48 were swimming with two of their teen children at Hutchison Island, which is located along Florida's Atlantic coast near Port. St. Lucie, between the Space Coast and Palm Beach.

The two teens were able to break free of the current and tried to help their parents, but it became too dangerous for them and they had to swim back to shore, the Martin County Sheriff's Office said.

Ocean rescue teams located the parents and brought them back to shore, where they began CPR.

"Those life-saving efforts continued in the ambulance and at the hospital where doctors gave it every last effort before declaring the couple deceased," the sheriff's office said.

The children are being cared for by a Martin County Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team Deputy as they await the arrival of other family members in Florida.