Plymouth County DA identifies 66-year-old man found unresponsive floating near beach

DUXBURY – A man who died following an apparent drowning Sunday in Duxbury has
been identified, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has announced.

On Sunday at about 4:30 p.m., local police received reports of an unresponsive man floating in the water near a beach in Duxbury.

Bystanders swam out and brought the victim to shore, where an off-duty Duxbury police officer immediately began CPR until members of the Duxbury Fire Department arrived.

The harbormaster, police department, and fire department worked together to transfer the patient to a waiting ambulance, and Duxbury Fire transported the patient to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Plymouth.

The man, identified as 66-year-old James Merlin of Duxbury, was pronounced deceased about an hour after Duxbury Police were initially called.

Investigators with the Massachusetts State Police and Duxbury Police later learned from a family member of Merlin’s that he had walked from his home to the beach shortly before the incident and had planned on swimming to his boat to drive it to a nearby marina.

No foul play is suspected in this incident.