Panama City Man Dies Snorkeling In Dry Tortugas National Park

KEY WEST, FL — A 49-year-old man died Wednesday after being found unresponsive in the waters of Dry Tortugas National Park, according to reports. After being spotted by a couple, Michael Ray Stephens, of Panama City, was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Stephens was snorkeling off Fort Jefferson in the national park, the Miami Herald reported, about 70 miles from Key West. The couple who found him unresponsive swam him to the fort where park employees tried to save him using CPR, the Herald reported a Monroe Sheriff's Office spokesman as saying.

It was soon after noon on Wednesday when a helicopter flew Stephens to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he later died.

The sheriff's spokesman said no foul play is suspected, the Herald reports, but a medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine Stephens' cause of death.

Article image Fort Jefferson, Google Maps screengrab