David Davidson was the kind of guy who liked to have fun, so his wife wasn’t surprised to see him jump off a 32-foot boat into the Intracoastal Waterway during a boy’s birthday party Saturday evening.
What did shock Teresa Ospina, 48, was that her husband didn’t resurface after going under.
“I don’t have words to describe that, it was the worst feeling in the world,” Ospina said Monday.
Authorities searched for Davidson, 49, for about five hours without luck on Saturday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. His body was found the next morning near the Lake Worth Inlet, the agency said.
Ospina, of suburban Lake Worth, said she is waiting to find out how a good swimmer like her husband could have died. Autopsy results in the case were pending Monday afternoon, according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The commercial real estate broker and his wife boarded the Commander fishing boat with 11 other people to celebrate the birthday of a 14-year-old boy who plays with Davidson’s son on the West Boynton Little League baseball team, Ospina said. Several other boys on the team were also on the boat, she said.
The group had stopped at Peanut Island for a swim and was on its way back when the accident happened about 7 p.m., north of the Lake Worth bridge, according to Ospina and state wildlife officials.
Davidson’s son, Cole, 13, was grounded and not allowed to go, so the couple went without him at a friend’s invitation.
“I’m glad [Cole] didn’t see that,” Ospina said. “It’s been hard for him.”
Davidson was a happy man who always told people to smile and cheer up, his wife said. The couple married in March following a five-year relationship, she said.
One of Davidson’s favorite things to do was hang around with Cole and his friends, Ospina said, and he often threw them sports-themed parties at their home. Davidson was planning to host a sports camp for the kids this summer.
“Maybe we can still do that for him,” she said.
Funeral arrangements were still being decided Monday.
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Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
