Updated: Identity released of Kitty Hawk man that died Friday on Currituck Sound

Numerous emergency vehicles responded to the call off Waterview Shores North. [submitted photo]

An employee of an Outer Banks personal watercraft rental business died Friday afternoon while leading a tour on the Currituck Sound.

First responders were dispatched around 5:40 p.m. to a report of a man missing in the water off the Waterview Shores North neighborhood in Grandy.

A eyewitness said Kenneth R. Miller, 31, of Kitty Hawk jumped from a disabled PWC into shallow water and then did not resurface, according to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Law Enforcement Sgt. John Beardsley.

Miller, who was wearing a life vest at the time, was found floating face down and unresponsive in Dowdy Bay by a Good Samaritan and Currituck County Sheriff’s Office deputy, according to Currituck Fire and EMS Deputy Chief Tim Riley.

They immediately initiated CPR, with Currituck EMS taking over when they reached shore, Beardsley said.

Despite crews conducting life saving measures for nearly an hour, Miller was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tour originated from a rental business in Duck, Riley said. Several of the watercraft reportedly had experienced mechanical issues prior to the incident due to thick vegetation in the sound.

Agencies responding to the incident included the Lower Currituck Volunteer Fire Department, N.C. Wildlife Law Enforcement, the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office and Currituck Fire and EMS.

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Sam Walker was news director for OBXToday.com, Beach 104, 99.1 The Sound, Big 94.5 WCMS and Z 92.3 from August 2011 to March 2022.