Mississippi woman and her two daughters die from apparent drowning

CAMERON PARISH, LA. (KPLC) - A Mississippi woman and her two daughters have died after an apparent drowning in the Gulf off of Long Beach Road.

The Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office received the call around 3:40 p.m. on Sunday.

“We don’t know at what point they lost their lives, but it’s hard to climb up on the rocks from the south end and it’s as rough as it was,” Cameron Parish Sheriff Ron Johnson said. “Very, very rough yesterday, wind blowing very hard. Not good conditions to be out on the water at all.”

The 28-year-old woman and her daughters, ages 7 and 8, were not identified.

Johnson said the girls’ bodies were recovered from the water near the rocks. Their mom was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Burnett also tells KPLC the family is from Ethel, Mississippi, and the father was working at Golden Pass LNG.

The woman’s 9-year-old son was rescued from the water and is in stable condition at the hospital, and her 3-year-old son was walking alone along the beach when neighbors spotted him and he alerted them that something was wrong.

According to Jefferson County Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett, the child told a neighbor his mom went swimming, which is when the search began.

“In a tragedy like this one where you actually lose three in one day, and another one in the hospital and you have your three-year-old, it’s hard to imagine,” Johnson said.

Cameron Parish Sheriff Ron Johnson said conditions of the water at the beach Sunday afternoon were rough and not good for swimming.

Autopsies are pending with the Cameron Parish Coroner, but we’re told no one was wearing a life jacket.

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