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Pawleys Island Unveils Rip-Current Safety Plan After Georgia Father’s Drowning

Local officials rolled out a safety campaign with educational magnets, extra warning signage plus additional life rings following the conclusion of the investigation

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Overview

  • Childers entered Pawleys Island waters at about 4:45 p.m. to rescue a family of five caught in a rip current before becoming trapped himself.
  • His body was recovered by Pawleys Island police and the U.S. Coast Guard about 90 minutes later, and officials confirmed his identity on site.
  • Childers’s death is the fifth drowning at Pawleys Island since June 2023 and the second in the past month, highlighting the island’s dangerous rip currents near sandbars off Atlantic Avenue.
  • Chief Michael Fanning said the new safety initiative will deploy educational magnets to rental homes, install extra warning signs at hazard-prone accesses and station more life rings along the beach.
  • A former Baltimore Orioles minor-league infielder and Cobb County police officer honored with a life-saving award in 2012, Childers was celebrated by his family as a selfless hero.