Two hunters and their hunting dogs were found dead near the water in Highlands County, Florida on Wednesday afternoon. An initial investigation showed that both men and their two dogs died from an apparent lightning strike sometime after 8 p.m. on Monday, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
The two men, identified by the HCSO as 38-year-old Alexander Karl Getz and 31-year-old Peter James Kaminsky, were both from Miami. HCSO says officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission had been searching for the two men after they failed to return home from hunting. It’s unclear how long they had been missing for.
FWC officers found the bodies on a levee next to Canal C-41A in the area of Rucks Dairy Road, according to the statement from the sheriff’s office. It is one of many canals located off the Kissimmee River near where the river dumps into Lake Okeechobee.
HCSO says that while the initial investigation indicated a lightning strike, a medical examiner is still working to determine the official cause and time of death.
Although neither agency has provided additional details about the two men and their dogs, they were likely hunting or scouting for ducks along the canal when a thunderstorm rolled in. Florida’s early teal season opened Saturday and ran through Wednesday. Past weather data for Okeechobee shows that a heavy thunderstorm moved into the area sometime around 8 p.m. Monday, bringing rain and lightning that continued until after 10 pm.
“Our area gets more lightning than just about anywhere else in the country, especially in the summer. If you can hear thunder, that means lightning is close enough to strike, even if the sky doesn’t look too bad yet,” HCSO Sheriff Paul Blackman said Thursday. “It is essential to pay attention and plan ahead when storms approach.”
Read Next: Lightning Strike Killed the Two Missing Elk Hunters in Colorado, Coroner Says
The timing of the fatal lightning strike in Florida is unsettling for some in the outdoors community, who are still mourning the loss of two young men who were killed by lightning while elk hunting in Colorado earlier this month. The coroner who examined the bodies in that case said the two men were not struck directly by lightning, but were close enough to the strike to be electrocuted nonetheless.
These deaths have also been tragic reminders of the danger of lighting, which is a risk for outdoorsmen all across the country — from the marshes to the mountains. In light of the incident in Colorado, search-and-rescue experts have re-shared advice about how to manage this risk if you are unable to seek shelter indoors or in a car with a hard roof.
“Don’t stand under trees, in open fields or go near bodies of water,” the HCSO advises, “as those spots are lightning magnets.”
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