CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. -- We're learning more about what happened moments before a Cape Coral man got swept into open waters off Boca Grande this weekend.
The family of 22-year-old Javier Castro tells Fox 4 that Javier went missing after trying to save his sister.
The family went swimming near the Gasparilla Island lighthouse Saturday and says Javier and his brother went to rescue their sister when she got caught in the strong current. Javier never made it back.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Coast Guard searched for more than 30 hours before suspending that search Sunday.
"Our crews are trained to do this. We train every single day, we have crews that are always out there ready, 24/7, 365. Our hearts really do go out to them. I's not easy to go through something of this magnitude and this heartache," says Petty Officer Ashley Johnson.
The Boca Grande Fire Department says weather Saturday made the conditions dangerous to swimmers.
