SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed officials recovered the body of a missing Indianapolis woman Monday afternoon off the coast of a beach in Puerto Rico.
Cimone Alicea Dawson, 22, was visiting Puerto Rico with two friends. According to the Coast Guard, the three people were swimming off Condado Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8 when they got caught in rip currents, and Dawson was swept away. Bystanders were able to rescue her friends, but they could not find Dawson.
Officials found Dawson "submerged and unresponsive" Sept. 9. She was pronounced dead.
"If I was on that beach and (saw( Simone seeing her loved one struggling, I couldn't even get Simone not to go back into the water. That's just the type of person she was," Dawson's cousin, Siajhanai Wean, said.
Wean said Dawson went back to save her girlfriend.
"Her girlfriend was starting to drown. She ran out there to save her girlfriend. It was other family members too in the water that needed saved, which bystanders help assisted, but it was three of them in the water struggling. The two of them the bystanders got, and while Simone was on the way to her girlfriend, the current took her," Wean said.
Dawson and Wean grew up very close.
Wean says Dawson enjoyed traveling, and this trip was an annual trip she would take.
"They've been there five times in the last three years. We usually travel to different places, but they love Puerto Rico. They constantly go back," Wean said.
The Coast Guard sent out helicopters, aircraft and boats to search for Dawson.
"We extend are most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of this young woman and pray they find strength and closure during this most difficult time," said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Coast Guard Search and Rescue mission coordinator for the case. "I would like to extend my appreciation to the bystanders and on-scene authorities for their actions which saved two lives and to all the Coast Guard units and emergency response partners for their professionalism, dedication, and tireless efforts during the search."