PANAMA CITY BEACH – The bodies of two men who disappeared while swimming off the coast were found Sunday, Panama City Beach police reported.
Tony Underwood Jr., of Rex, Ga., drowned Saturday in the water near the Chateau Motel at 12525 Front Beach. He went missing about 6 p.m. after losing grip of a flotation device and getting caught in an undertow, according to PCB police. Rescue crews searched the area but did not find him. His body was recovered beachside at County Pier about 11:15 p.m.
The other swimmer, 26-year-old Korvotney Barber, of Manchester, Ga., went missing in the water behind Pineapple Willie's on Front Beach about 7 p.m. Saturday. According to a police broadcast, Barber was knocked underwater by a wave after swimming past a sandbar. Shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday, Barber’s body was found by a passerby between Boardwalk Beach and Resort Condominiums and Top of the Gulf condos, PCB police said.
Barber was a basketball player at Auburn University from 2005 to 2009. In a public statement released Sunday, Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said Barber’s death was “tragic and untimely.”
The Bay County Sheriff's Office had posted double red flags on the beaches in Bay County on Saturday, indicating swimming conditions are highly hazardous and have an increased likelihood of strong currents and high surf. Also, beaches are closed to swimmers during the posting of double red flags.
Double red flags were posted again Sunday.