Code enforcement officers began fining disobedient swimmers last July. That came after a dozen people drowned off the coast of PCB in 2019. A total of 118 people were cited for the offense from then until Oct. 31 of last year, according to information from the city.
Wil Spivey, beach safety director for Panama City Beach Fire Rescue, said Thursday that there have been no confirmed drownings in the Gulf off of PCB so far this year.
However, the body of William Janos, 66, was pulled from the Gulf on April 23 behind the Sterling Breeze Condominiums. A report from the District 14 medical examiner s office lists the man s cause of death as drowning.
PANAMA CITY BEACH The drowned man pulled from the Gulf of Mexico last Friday behind Sterling Breeze Condominiums has been identified by the District 14 Medical Examiner s Office.
According to Whit Majors, director of operations and chief investigator for the ME s office, the man was 66-year-old William Janos. Past reports from Panama City Beach state Janos, who was wearing a wetsuit, was pulled from the Gulf by city lifeguards about 8:30 a.m. last Friday.
The lifeguards provided CPR, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is listed as a drowning, Majors wrote in an email. The manner of death is listed as accident.