‘It’s just a livin’ hell’: Man in Myrtle Beach begged for help, then drowned
Sheila Gomez is left with too many questions about the night her son died in Myrtle Beach.
Why was he asking for help? How did he end up in Myrtle Beach? And why did a Myrtle Beach Police officer allow him to swim away in the ocean where he ultimately drowned?
Michael Cherry’s body was found in the early hours of Oct. 5, 2025, near 8th Avenue South – blocks from where a Myrtle Beach Police officer was initially flagged down by witnesses who saw a swimmer entering and exiting the water and requesting help.
The officer found the 39-year-old North Carolina man sitting on the beach at 6th Avenue North about 6–10 feet from the water line, according to an incident report. It was about 2:15 a.m. when the officer tried to have a conversation with Cherry, who got up, ran into the water and swam away, the report stated.
Gomez said the officer who made contact with her son told her he watched Cherry swim for five blocks, keeping a light on him while he was in the water.
Witnesses lost sight of Cherry about 2:40 a.m. in the dark water, but located him about 45 minutes later near 8th Avenue South at 3:13 a.m. He was pulled from the water and taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Horry County Coroner’s Office.
“My son is gone,” Gomez said. “He died a horrific death. He could have been saved. They didn’t even try (to get him out of the water).”
When asked why the officer watched Cherry swim away, Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph Angotti said the officer was following protocol. Rescue crews generally do not go into the water at night because it is dangerous, he said.
Rescue crews typically conduct nighttime searches for swimmers when necessary or in certain situations, such as when a swimmer is reported missing or in distress.
Cherry didn’t appear in distress, the officer’s report stated, but out of caution, supervisors were contacted as well as the U.S. Coast Guard to help get the swimmer out of the water, according to a Myrtle Beach Police Facebook post.
No rescue crews went into the water.
‘It’s just a livin’ hell’
The last time Gomez spoke with her son was about 9 p.m. the night before he died, she said.
Cherry told his mother he was waiting for a guy and needed to hang up because his phone was at 3% power, she added.
The 63-year-old Rocky Mount, North Carolina, woman had hoped he was going to call that Monday to make arrangements to come home.
When Cherry didn’t call, Gomez began to search for him, calling the hospital and his girlfriend, who he had been living with in Ash, North Carolina. They had broken up that Saturday. She also filed a missing person report.
But it wasn’t until the Horry County Coroners Office’s call that she learned the awful truth.
“I asked him, ‘Is my son dead?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ and I fell all to pieces,” Gomez said.
The coroner told her that Cherry was on the beach begging for help before he went into the surf.
“From that point, I don’t know what happened,” she said. That includes how Cherry ended up in Myrtle Beach from North Carolina.
Gomez had hoped the officer would tell her what her son said and why he was asking for help. But the officer has not.
She has posted a plea on Facebook for anybody who had contact with her son that night to reach out hoping her questions can be answered.
“I pray that my son gets justice,” she said. “His life was very valuable. Not knowing, it’s just a livin’ hell.”
‘He was somebody’
Cherry was Gomez’s only son.
He had suffered from addiction, as well as mental health issues, for nearly 20 years, she said
Cherry had been clean for a year before his death, Gomez said.
Cherry had been released from prison in June. He went to a recovery home in Calabash, North Carolina, and then stayed with his mother for the summer, where “he turned (his life) around,” Gomez said.
Ironically, Gomez said, the mother and son went to Myrtle Beach for vacation.
He eventually moved in with his girlfriend. It was there that he ran out of medicine, including medication for antidepressants and anxiety.
“He got into a bad place, and his girlfriend couldn’t put up with him anymore,” Gomez said.
Cherry, who worked as a roofer and landscaper, had made plans to move back home with his mother. But he never made it.
Gomez feared that her son’s paranoia may have contributed to his erratic behavior that night in Myrtle Beach.
But she’s afraid she might not ever find out what really happened. What she does know is that her son had a huge heart and “he loved me deeply.”
“He was loved,” Gomez said. “He was somebody.”
