North Carolina tourist dies during Florida snorkeling trip

KEY WEST, Fla. – A tourist from North Carolina died following a snorkeling trip off the Florida Keys, sheriff’s officials said.

Erica Michelle Brown, 42, had been snorkeling with family and friends on a Fury Watersports boat on Sunday afternoon when she began signalling for help, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. They were near the Sand Key Lighthouse.

Someone on the boat began CPR and it was continued when she was transferred to a U.S. Coast Guard boat, which took Brown to shore. Paramedics then took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office did not list a city in North Carolina where Brown lived.

An autopsy was performed and results are pending, the release said.