By The Star Staff
Puerto Rico Police Bureau officers found the body of a second drowning victim in the ocean three miles off Condado in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
Officers assigned to the Tourist Precinct and Calle Loíza were alerted on Sunday afternoon regarding two people dragged by the sea currents off the beach located at the back of the Ventana del Mar park in Condado.
Police reportedly received a call through the 9-1-1 Emergency System reporting the incident. Personnel from the San Juan Municipal Medical Emergency Department and the Emergency Management Bureau, along with the Coast Guard, mobilized to the scene and commenced search and rescue actions.
One of the bodies was pulled from the water later that day and transported to the emergency room at Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital, where the doctor on duty certified that there were no vital signs. The drowned man was identified as Charles Victor Daniel Poor, 20, of Illinois.
Meanwhile, the search continued for a second man who was dragged under, identified as Fidel Cruz Llanos, 35, whose body was found in the morning hours three nautical miles north of La Concha hotel. The body of the Puerto Rico National Guard member, who according to reports had entered the water in an attempt to rescue Poor, was recovered by Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA by its Spanish acronym) personnel and taken to the San Juan Maritime Unit to continue with the protocol in such cases.
Agent Yahaira Vélez Soto of the San Juan Criminal Investigations Corps Homicide Division, consulted the case with prosecutor Gracielis Vega Bermúdez, who granted permission for the removal and transfer of the body to the Institute of Forensic Sciences.