Tragic Duxbury Beach Drowning: 66-Year-Old Man Dies

DUXBURY (WBSM) — A 66-year-old Duxbury man died in an apparent drowning on Sunday.

Details on the Attempted Duxbury Beach Rescue

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said that at about 4:30 p.m. on July 5, Duxbury Police received reports of an unresponsive man floating in the water near a Duxbury beach.

According to a Facebook post from the Duxbury Fire Department, bystanders swam out to the man and brought him to shore, where an off-duty Duxbury police officer performed CPR until the fire department arrived.

The victim was then taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he was pronounced deceased at around 5:30 p.m.

Duxbury Drowning Victim Identified by Authorities

Cruz identified the man as James Merlin, 66, of Duxbury.

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Investigation Into Duxbury Drowning

He said that investigators with the Massachusetts State Police and Duxbury Police later learned from one of Merlin’s family members that he had walked from his home to the beach and planned to swim out to his boat to drive it to a nearby marina.

Cruz said no foul play is suspected.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton