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20-year-old drowns, dies in Long Branch Creek: SC coroner

A 20-year-old man drowned after taking a break from fishing, South Carolina officials said.

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A 20-year-old fisherman was found dead after disappearing into a South Carolina creek, officials said.

The man was fishing on Long Branch Creek when he “jumped into the water to cool off,” according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

“Bystanders tried to save the man, but the current swept him away,” officers wrote in a press release.

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The sheriff’s office was called to the scene on Thursday, June 6, around 4:30 p.m. The disappearance was reported near Savannah Highway, which was closed but later reopened.

The crew used a drone and sonar to search for the missing man, who was found dead hours later. Officers say divers pulled his body from the water.

The man was identified as Angel Gabriel Martin Vasquez of Guatemala. He died of “asphyxia due to drowning,” the Charleston County Coroner’s Office wrote in a June 10 news release.

Simone Jasper is a reporter covering breaking stories for The News & Observer and real-time news in the Carolinas.