FORT PIERCE — Greer Boyd, a 63-year-old resident of Fort Pierce, Florida, died on June 26 while attempting to retrieve a detached trolling motor from his fishing vessel off St. Lucie County. His body was found by a civilian diver approximately 55 feet deep at the bottom of the ocean, about 6 to 7 miles north-northeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet and nearly due east of Avalon State Park.

Earlier that day, Boyd and friends had been fishing when the trolling motor fell overboard. The group marked the location of the lost equipment, returned to shore to obtain diving gear, and then came back to the area to recover the motor. Boyd entered the water alone to search for the equipment.

Boyd resurfaced about 40 yards from the vessel before disappearing again. Other boaters who arrived at the surface location where Boyd was last seen found only his buoyancy compensator and air tank in the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard Station in Fort Pierce received a mayday call at approximately 11:30 a.m. on June 26, reporting a missing diver. The Coast Guard then notified the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which deployed four vessels for a search and rescue operation. The St. Lucie County sheriff's marine unit also responded to the distress call, and a group of Boyd's friends left the Fort Pierce Inlet at approximately 1 p.m. to assist in the search. Both the Coast Guard and the FWC provided aerial support to locate the vessel.

A civilian diver entered the water at approximately 4:10 p.m. and located Boyd. He was pulled from the water, pronounced dead, and then transported to the Coast Guard station. An autopsy for Boyd was scheduled for June 29, and the investigation into his death remained open and ongoing.