Ocean City police say two people drowned in rough water off the 78th Street beach Thursday evening.
Police spokesman Private First Class Barry Neeb says Douglas Martin and his three teenage daughters were swimming around 6 p.m. and were drawn out very quickly into deeper water.
He says the 17-year-old daughter was able to swim to shore. The 13-year-old was floating on her back and was rescued by an off-duty beach patrol officer.
Neeb says 46-year-old Martin was on his way back in when he realized his 16-year-old daughter Amy was still out there and turned around. Both lost consciousness and a U-S Coast Guard ship pulled them from the water and took them ashore to waiting paramedics.
Neeb says they were taken to Atlantic General Hospital where the father was pronounced dead on arrival and the daughter died an hour later.
The Coast Guard says small craft advisories were in effect while the family was in the water, but it is not yet clear if the conditions actually caused the drownings.