Ritchey Dauphin, 18, Who Drowned on Memorial Day in Daytona, Is Found in Ormond

Last Updated: Tuesday, 11:25 a.m.

Tuesday update: The 18-year-old Orlando man who went missing late Monday afternoon in the Daytona Beach surf was discovered lifeless on Tuesday morning on a beach in Ormond Beach, where the body had washed up overnight.

Authorities identified the man as Ritchey Dauphin. He had been in the ocean with a friend, in waist-deep water or a bit deeper, when a wave crashed over them. Dauphin never resurfaced. He’s believed to have been pulled under by a rip current. Rip currents have been extremely severe along the northeast Florida coastline in the wake of tropical storm Beryl.

According to the News-Journal, Dauphin had wandered past a sandbar behind the Desert Inn hotel around 6 p.m. Monday. He was discovered by a person walking the beach in Ormond Beach at 7 a.m. today.

Monday evening’s report: An 18-year-old man is believed to have drowned in Daytona Beach late Monday afternoon when, standing in waist-deep water with a friend, he was tumbled over by a wave, and never surfaced. The incident took place just after 6 p.m. along North Atlantic Avenue.

Some 90 minutes later, Daytona Beach police called authorities in Flagler, asking them to send search parties to the south end of Flagler Beach, down to the county line, as authorities believed that the victim may have been dragged rapidly north by the still-harsh currents in the wake of tropical storm Beryl.

Flagler Beach police, members of the Flagler Beach Fire Department, including Chief Martin Roberts, and of Flagler County Fire Rescue, converged on a dune walk-over at the foot of the Flagler Beach water tower at about 8 p.m. as Flagler County Fire Flight circled a couple of times overhead and out to sea. A Flagler Beach police officer on an ATV traveled the length of the city’s south-end beaches toward the tower. The beaches were deserted, a bleak gray sky and occasional rain having kept most Memorial Day beachgoers from the shore.

And light was fading fast. At 8:09 p.m., Fire Flight returned to the Flagler County Airport, and shortly after that, Volusia officials sent word to Flagler County to call off the search until morning, when authorities in both counties are expected back on the beaches for what, absent a fortunate turn of events, would be a search for a body washing up.

Last September, the 45-year-old captain of a 22-foot sailing vessel was feared dead after going overboard and rescuers from four agencies, including the Coast Guard and the Flagler Beach Fire Department, failed to spot him in the water despite a four-hour search. Yet the captain, Brian Oliver, turned up relatively safe nine hours later when he finally made landfall at Cinnamon Beach. He had clung to a cooler during the entire ordeal, allowing him to stay afloat.