A tragic scene unfolded overnight along the St. Johns River in Palatka, where two young men drowned after entering the water near Riverfront Park.
The Palatka Police Department said that the bodies of 20-year-old Wilbert Rivera Cifuentes and 21-year-old Deyfri Roblero Morales were recovered by a dive team Tuesday morning, following an extensive overnight search operation.
According to authorities, the incident began late Monday night when the two men, along with about four others, entered the river in search of an unspecified object.
Police have not yet released details about what the group was looking for.
Witnesses told officers that neither Cifuentes nor Morales could swim.
Emergency crews, including the Palatka Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, responded swiftly.
Several bystanders reportedly jumped in to help, but both men never resurfaced.
Dive teams and a marine unit worked through the night and into Tuesday morning under challenging weather conditions before dive teams located the bodies.
