Man who drowned off of Holmes Beach identified

A 29-year-old man from Haines City has been identified as the person who accidentally drowned off of Holmes Beach Sunday night.

According to the Holmes Beach Police Department, Michael Angelo Rosario Alvarez was with a 22-year-old woman as they swam out to the sandbar near the 47th Street beach access. Alvarez went underwater and never came back up, the woman told police. After she couldn’t find him, she swam back to shore and called 911 shortly after 7 p.m.

Police cars and boats had swarmed the strip of beach right after sunset.

“I didn’t really know what was going on at the time,” Makenna Stickler said, who was on the beach around 8:30 p.m.

A Coast Guard helicopter circled the water for about 30 minutes, then started hovering, she said.

His body was found 150 feet off shore, according to police.

Alvarez’s body was pulled out of the water on the back of a jet ski and he was pronounced dead at 8:36 p.m.

“Immediately, all his family and everyone swarmed him and they had to be pulled away,” she said.

According to police, there were no signs of foul play and the drowning appears to be accidental. The District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy for an official cause of death.

Along with Holmes Beach Police and the Coast Guard, the agencies who responded to the scene included West Manatee Fire Rescue, Marine Rescue, Longboat Key Fire Rescue, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Man who drowned off of Holmes Beach identified."