'Gentle giant.' Family mourns West Palm Beach freediver who went missing on Mother's Day

A West Palm Beach freediver who went missing on Mother's Day while exploring a World War II shipwreck off the coast of Jensen Beach has left his family reeling.

Virgil Price III, 39, was spearfishing with friends Sunday, May 12 near the Halsey shipwreck about 13 miles southeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet when he failed to resurface, said his father, Virgil Price II, of Palm Beach.

U.S. Coast Guard officials launched a search but suspended it Monday evening, May 13 evening pending new information. The agency reported a search of more than 1,415 miles and 36 hours.

"They sent a cutter, they sent helicopters, they sent airplanes. They did everything they could until they had to call it," Virgil Price II said.

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.

Price grew up in Palm Beach but his mother, Kate Cerasaro, 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."

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.

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, said.

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 said. “It was just a fun dive with friends.”

According to uboat.net, the Halsey, a 7,088-ton steam tanker, was attacked May 6, 1942, by U-333, a German submarine, and sunk. Two torpedoes struck the vessel. The entire crew – eight officers and 24 others – abandoned ship in lifeboats and survived.

The wreck is in about 80 feet of water and is a well-known dive spot for amberjacks and grouper. The hull is broken apart into about three pieces.

Freediving, also called skin diving, relies on breath-holding until resurfacing.

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, 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."

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Family mourns West Palm freediver who went missing on Mother's Day