Man disappears while free diving on World War II shipwreck off Florida, searchers say

A man has gone missing while diving on a World War II shipwreck off Florida’s Atlantic Coast, according to searchers.

Virgil Price, 39, vanished Sunday, May 12, while out with a group of divers, officials say.

“A West Palm Beach resident was free diving in the area of the Halsey shipwreck where, upon his last known dive, he failed to resurface,” the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“This area is approximately 13 miles southeast of the (Fort) Pierce Inlet.”

Price was last seen around 10 a.m. “by the three other members of his party,” who reported him missing, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Free diving is a technique that involves holding one’s breath instead of using a breathing apparatus.

Price is well known in the state’s free diving community, Florida Freedivers reported.

”This is an incredibly difficult time, as Virgil was family to us and a dear friend to so many,” the organization posted on Facebook.

U.S. Coast Guard vessels planned to continue searching for Price through the night Sunday into Monday morning, officials said. A St. Lucie County dive team also joined the search, officials said.

Friends continue to hold out hope Price will be found.

“He’s an Olympic-level free diver/instructor and all around amazing human,” Hunter Hutchings wrote on Facebook. “If there’s anyone that could still be out there, it would be Virgil Price.”

Price was diving on a 7,088-ton tanker that “was torpedoed by German submarine U-333” in 1942, Wrecksite.eu reports. It split in half, “burst into flames” and went down in 65 feet of water, Fishingstatus.com says. All 32 crew members escaped, the site says.

Fort Pierce Inlet is about a 130-mile drive north from Miami.

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