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HomeArchiveVacationer drowns off Costa Rica's Playa Azul; another still missing

Vacationer drowns off Costa Rica’s Playa Azul; another still missing

A Boston man drowned late Sunday while swimming with his brother off the coast of Playa Azul, just south of San Juanillo on Costa Rica´s Nicoya Peninsula. Search teams found the body of the older brother Monday, but have yet to find the other, officials said.

Darnell Zimmerman, 25, and his brother Jermaine, 21, were swimming in the Pacific Ocean around 5 p.m. Sunday, when a strong undertow stopped them from returning to shore, said Officer Tomás Ullejós with the Santa Cruz Police.

The body of Darnell Zimmerman was found close to 17 hours later, around 10 a.m. Monday, by a Costa Rican search team, said Santa Cruz Officials.

Jermaine Zimmerman was still missing in the waning hours of daylight on Monday, when the search was stopped around 4:30 p.m., said Rafael Angel Araya, the regional director of police in the northwestern Guanacaste province. The search was set to resume again at 5 a.m. Tuesday. He was presumed dead by authorities.

The brothers were vacationing at the Sanctuary Resort and Spa at Playa Azul, said Araya. That information could not be confirmed with the resort on Monday, because its phones went unanswered throughout the day.

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