North Carolina vacationer drowns in North Myrtle Beach, coroner says
A man visiting North Myrtle Beach from North Carolina died after being pulled from the ocean, according to the Horry County Coroner’s office.
Anthony Rowe, 69, of Conover, North Carolina, was pulled from the ocean on Wednesday and transported to MacLeod Seacoast where he died of asphyxiation due to drowning, Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard announced in an email.
Rowe was visiting North Myrtle Beach with family.
Rowe was “passive” when pulled from the surf, and a primary assessment by responders revealed he had no pulse and was not breathing, the incident report says.
Responders conducted several rounds of CPR on Rowe, and attached an AED to him, but the AED said there was no “shockable rhythm” detected, the report continues. Rowe was pronounced dead at the hospital. The incident report notes that he had a triple bypass operation in 2019.
Lifeguards later stated that beach patrons with boogie boards assisted in getting Rowe to shore before police arrived, the incident report states.
Rowe’s wife and daughter were both on the scene.
This is at least the fourth drowning in the Myrtle Beach area this summer. Two drownings have taken place in Surfside Beach in recent months, one involving a toddler in a swimming pool last month and the other occurring when a child was pulled from a retention pond in June.
Another visitor from North Carolina drowned in the ocean in North Myrtle Beach in July.
A 21-year-old swimmer who went missing in the ocean in North Myrtle Beach in July has not been found.
No further information has been made available.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 11:25 AM.
