The Tribune

Detectives on Exuma are investigating the circumstances surrounding the suspected drowning of an American man on Friday.

According to reports, shortly before 11am, police on Exuma were informed that an adult male was brought unresponsive into a local marina from a diving expedition.

Officers were dispatched and on their arrival at the docking site, they were directed to a vessel where the man’s body was. The victim was examined by the local medical doctor and pronounced dead.

Initial investigations indicate that sometime around 9am a party of 10 had gone on a diving expedition. A short time later, while at the dive site in the area of Rolleville, Exuma, the expedition began their goal of reaching a specified depth.

During the dive, when the party arrived at an initial designated depth, one of the instructors motioned to the divers for a response.

However, the instructor became concerned about one diver due to not receiving the appropriate signal from him. The instructor went to the man and discovered that he was not fully coherent.

Instructions were then signalled for all the divers to resurface. Once at the surface the man was placed aboard the vessel where he collapsed. A decision was made to return to shore.

The Coroner was apprised of the initial facts in this matter. Police will await an official identification by a next of kin to confirm the victim’s identity and an autopsy report to determine the exact cause of death. This matter remains under active investigation.