GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – The Green Cove Springs Police Department has released pictures of the two men whose bodies were found Sunday hours after they disappeared while swimming in the St. Johns River.
Police identified the men as 21-year-old Ahndray Edward Clay and 23-year-old Billy Joe Hammonds.
Rescuers recovered their bodies after five hours of searching Sunday. One of the men was found around 11:30 p.m. near the location where he was last seen. The second man was found around midnight.
Earlier in the evening, Clay jumped off the Spring Park Pier off Walnut Street in a dare and attempted to swim to a floating dock, police said.
"He began to struggle, his buddy (Hammonds) saw that and jumped in to assist him, and he began to struggle as well," said Kimberly Robinson with the Green Cove Springs Police Department.
Both men went under and did not resurface.
Mark Stutzman told News4Jax he called 911 when he saw Clay struggling in the water and then tried frantically to find a flotation device to throw to the men. He said he considered jumping in to help them but decided against it because of how dangerous the waters are.
“It was very frustrating at the time that I wasn't able to find anything (to throw to them), and even if I did, the conditions were that I wouldn't have been able to throw it that far,” Stutzman said.
The police department said flotation devices aren't kept in the area because they might encourage people to swim or jump into the water. There are signs all over the area telling people not to swim because of the dangerous current.
"I keep processing, (asking) what more could I have done? Was there anything else I could have said to them? The second one was so close. One of the police officers, I admired him so much, he jumped in,” Stutzman said. “He jumped into some pretty rough water and risked his own life and watched the second one go under, and neither one of them came back up."
Robinson said the water was rough Sunday evening but couldn't say whether that was a factor in the incident.
"There is a lot of muck at the bottom, so someone could struggle and that's why we don't allow swimming or jumping off the pier," said Robinson.
Stutzman said he yelled to the men after he couldn't find a flotation device, hoping his voice would reassure them help was on the way.
“I started watching the clock to see how long he was under to let the rescuers know. After he had been down for three minutes, the rescuers showed up, and they were there to see the second one go under, and they weren't able to save him either,” Stutzman said.
Two women were on the pier at the time of the incident. One of them is in a relationship with one of the men who went under.
"The first one, Dray, was the first one I was in touch with. While I was on with 911, I was doing everything I could to encourage him to hang on,” Stutzman said. “The girls were calling out to him. His name was Dray. He was obviously in a lot of trouble. I kept telling him I had help coming and to hang on, but after his friend left him, he finally went under."
Stutzman said he wished he could have saved the two men.
“If anything, it taught me how fragile life is. And at any moment, any of us can go,” Stutzman said. “We kind of go through life thinking we will live forever, and we don't."
Several agencies were involved in the search for the two men, including Florida Fish and Wildlife, Green Cove Springs marine unit, Clay County dive team and the Coast Guard. Investigators from Putnam County were also on scene.
The men's bodies were taken to the Medical Examiner's Office for autopsies.