A Fairfax, Va., man has died after getting caught in a strong rip current near Quansoo Beach that prompted a regional search-and-rescue and mass mutual-aid response in West Tisbury Monday.
A spokesman for the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office Tara Miltimore identified the man as Donald Reagan, age 58.
In a statement, Ms. Miltimore called the death an “apparent drowning” and said that the matter remained under investigation by the West Tisbury police, state police detectives assigned to the DA’s office, and the Office of the Chief Medical examiner.
“There is nothing at this time to suggest foul play,” Ms. Miltimore wrote in an email to the Gazette.
The incident occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, when West Tisbury police and Tri-Town EMS and fire rescue teams were dispatched to Quansoo Beach for reports of two male swimmers caught in a rip current near the cut of the Tisbury Great Pond.
The area has seen intense surf in recent weeks, with hurricanes and tropical storms churning up strong waves and rip tides on the Island’s south shore. The Tisbury Great Pond was also recently opened— an annual practice to help improve water quality in the pond that can lead to strong currents near shore.
According to statements from state police spokesman David Procopio and Ms. Miltimore, Mr. Reagan and a friend were kayaking off Long Point Beach in West Tisbury Monday before they entered the water to go swimming, both getting caught in a rip tide.
“One of the swimmers was able to eventually exit the water,” Ms. Miltimore wrote.
The swimmer, who remains unidentified but was described in statements as a friend of Mr. Reagan, called 911 after reaching shore. Ms. Miltimore said the other swimmer, identified as Mr. Reagan, “was taken by a strong east rip current which pulled him farther out to sea.”
“The U.S. Coast Guard responded to the area and located Reagan floating face down in the water,” Ms. Miltimore wrote. “Reagan was helicopter transported toe Martha’s Vineyard Hospital where he was subsequently pronounced deceased.”
Mr. Procopio said that Mr. Reagan was pronounced dead at approximately 6 p.m. Monday.
U.S. Coast Guard sector Southeast New England, Coast Guard Station Menemsha and the Dukes County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the incident, deploying a full search-and-rescue for the swimmer.
Southeast sector chief Seth Caron said a helicopter deployed from his station in Woods Hole located the swimmer approximately three to four minutes after arriving in the area. A Coast Guard rescue swimmer brought the person to shore.
“The helicopter saw the individual, and deployed the rescue swimmer, who brought the individual to shore,” Chief Caron said.
Chief Caron and West Tisbury police officer Matt Gebo confirmed earlier Monday that CPR was performed on Mr. Reagan.
Mr. Reagan was then transported to the Vineyard Hospital via helicopter, which departed from the beach, according to the chief and statements from the DA’s office.
Fatal drownings have been rare on the Island in recent years. Although the incident marks the only ocean drowning south of the Island in 2021, two other swimmers were rescued from heavy surf at South Beach in Edgartown and Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark earlier this summer. In both instances, lifeguards and emergency service personnel pulled people from the water, performing CPR or other resuscitative procedures.
