Woman, 63, struggles to breathe and then dies in Keys snorkeling incident, police say

A 63-year-old woman from Port Orange, Florida, died Sunday after losing consciousness in the water during a snorkeling trip on Rock Key reef off Key West, police said.

Kim Ellen Schwinge was on a trip with her family with Key West-based Sebago Watersports when a relative realized she was having trouble breathing in the water, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

At about 10:45 a.m., crew members transferred Schwinge to the commercial catamaran and began CPR on the way to U.S. Coast Guard Station Key West.

Paramedics took Schwinge to Lower Keys Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

“Foul play is not believed to be a factor in the incident,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Autopsy results are pending, Linhradt said.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.