A Jamestown couple drowned Sunday in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Fla., just north of Fort Lauderdale, according to the Broward County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office. A news release issued by the sheriff’s office said Bradley Perleberg, 41, and Terry Ann Perleberg, 45, were swimming around 2 p.m. in the Atlantic Ocean. Shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff’s office deputies and fire rescue personnel responded to an emergency call. Deputies found Terry Ann Perleberg’s body on shore and Bradley’s floating in the water nearby. BSO paramedics pronounced both dead at the scene. The Miami Herald on its Web site, www.miamiherald. com, said the witness, Jean Smith, 53, first saw the Perlebergs while she was walking on the beach with her daughter and granddaughter. She said hello to them and kept walking. Around 20 minutes later Smith and her family were walking back when they saw a woman on her back, close to shore. “At first, we thought she was just floating,” Smith said. When they got closer they realized Terry Ann Perleberg was dead. With the help of a hotel key, investigators learned that the Perlebergs, a husband and wife truck-driving team, had checked into a nearby Holiday Inn on Saturday. The release said that, as part of departmental procedure, BSO’s Homicide Unit is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths, even though foul play is not suspected. The Broward Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of death. At 7:45 a.m. Sunday, the city of Fort Lauderdale posted a red flag warning on its official Web site and on beaches, warning swimmers of rough conditions and strong rip currents. A red flag means swimmers are strongly discouraged from entering the water, and is the next highest hazard warning before beaches are closed. The National Weather Service says a rip current is a 10- to 30-yard wide channel of water that can pull even a strong swimmer into deeper water. It advised no swimming on Atlantic beaches in Broward County Sunday.

Jackie Hyra - 09/01/2008