A Palm Beach family is reeling following the disappearance at sea of Virgil Price III, a well-known freediver who went missing on Mother's Day while exploring a World War II shipwreck off the coast of Jensen Beach.
Mr. Price, 39, a former Palm Beach Day Academy student, was spearfishing with friends Sunday near the Halsey shipwreck about 13 miles southeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet when he failed to resurface, his father, Virgil Price II, told the Daily News.
U.S. Coast Guard officials launched a search for the West Palm Beach resident, but suspended it Monday evening pending new information, according to TC Palm. The agency reported a search of more than 1,415 miles and 36 hours.
"The Coast Guard was so wonderful," Price said. "They sent a cutter, they sent helicopters, they sent airplanes. They did everything they could until they had to call it."
Mr. Price, a graduate of the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, was an experienced freediver and instructor with Florida Freedivers, a sporting goods store in North Palm Beach, his family said. From an early age he was drawn to music, wildlife and the ocean, and he also played numerous instruments including piano, bass guitar, and mandolin, his family said.
Kate Cerasaro, Mr. Price's mother, said her son was an avid outdoorsman and "Renaissance guy" who went alligator hunting, collected World War II and Civil War artifacts, played in a band, made homemade alligator stew, and taught surfing, diving and spearfishing.
"He would take all these kids out — he called them his 'Lost Boys' — and they'd go to Munyon Island and they would build bonfires and have cookouts, things that people don't do anymore," she said. "I said to somebody, if anybody thinks that Virgil's going to grow up and put on a blue blazer and be a preppy Palm Beacher, it's never going to happen. Somebody's going to have to fall in love with somebody who lives in board shorts and loves animals."
Mr. Price was a "gentle giant," Cerasaro added, noting that despite his 6-foot-6 height, he was not an imposing figure. "People followed him everywhere because he was so kind to everybody," she said.
Mr. Price last was seen about 10 a.m. Sunday by three other people in his party and was reported missing, Arielle Callender, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told TC Palm.
Matthew Pasa, the training director at Florida Freedivers, said Price was with a group of close friends, all of whom are experienced divers, spearfishers and free divers. “He couldn't have been with a better team,” Pasa told TC Palm Tuesday. “It was just a fun dive with friends.”
Freediving, also called skin diving, relies on breath-holding until resurfacing.
Mr. Price began freediving about 10 years ago, and he developed into an accomplished diver who won numerous tournaments, including one recently in Dominica. He had planned to travel to Greece in October to represent the United States in the CMAS World Freediving Championships, Cerasaro said.
"There are only three men on the team," she said. "He was going to the world championships, and he was so looking forward to it."
Cerasaro said she spoke to her son earlier on Mother's Day as he was driving to Martin County for his spearfishing trip.
She said he had gone out early so he could get back in time to celebrate Mother's Day with her. "He spent like 45 minutes telling me how special I was to him, and that I had taught him to swim," she said.
Price said his son will be remembered as a fun-loving, athletic man who loved to exercise and loved the ocean. "He was a surfer before he was a freediver," he said. "He loved every part of it."
"He lived so much of his life in such a short period of time," added Brit Drozda, Mr. Price's younger sister. "Anyone who crossed his path was so blessed. His infectious smile and laugh — I just want people to know about that."
Mr. Price is survived by his father, Virgil M. Price II of Palm Beach, his mother, Kathleen Cerasaro of Palm Beach, his sister Brit Drozda, of Juno Beach, brother-in-law Zack Drozda, Gail Obenour, his stepfather Adriano Cerasaro, his grandmother Shirley Mulligan, and his niece and nephew.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, 717 Prosperity Farms Road, North Palm Beach. The service will be followed by a celebration of life at Bradley's, 104 S. Clematis St., West Palm Beach.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in Mr. Price's memory to Underwater Hypoxic Prevention at underwaterhypoxicblackout.org/.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
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