CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A woman from Pleasant, Texas lost her life over the weekend when she drowned at Rockport Beach.
"It was very populated over the weekend and some of our bystanders who were on the beach called in and said they located an unresponsive female that had been under the water for just a few minutes," said Captain Nathan Anderson with the Rockport Police Department.
The victim was 49-year-old Betty Jane Benavidez. Investigators said she was visiting the beach with extended family members and was found in the water just after 4:30 Saturday afternoon.
Because there is no real current and the average water depth at Rockport Beach is less than three feet, most consider it to be the safest on the coast.
There are also no lifeguards on the beach.
"It's shallow. Less than three feet. Most of the time from ankle to thigh deep water but as you know people drown in bathtubs," said Keith Barrett with the Aransas Country Drainage District. "So, it can happen. We are not sure of the circumstances could it have been a medical incident or something like that that caused her to drown."
Investigators said that Benavidez was an organ donor and was taken to Bay Area Hospital. Her body is now at the Nueces County Medical Examiners Office where an autopsy may determine the cause of death.
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