Missing swimmer not "another John Doe"

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - Several people were enjoying the water in Orange Beach Wednesday, but hree days ago a South Carolina man disappeared in the surf churned up by Tropical Storm Debbie.

"I really don't think he knew all that was going down when he went that way," Christy Weaver said.

Eric Pye, 32, was swimming with his 14-year-old son when he went under. 

FOX10 News talked to Pye's sister who lives in Summerville South Carolina.  Christy Weaver said she doesn't want her brother remembered as an anonymous drowning victim.

"I just want this to have a face to go with this, you know?  Cause I just don't want him to wash up and somebody find him, and nobody knows what he's connected to, and he's a John Doe.  That's what I don't want to happen to him," Weaver said. 

According to Weaver, Pye had just married his childhood sweetheart on June 8. They were supposed to be back in South Carolina on Tuesday.

"He was a good fellow, a daddy, a brother, a new husband," she said.

The Orange Beach Safety Director Melvin Shepard said the water was too rough this weekend for a boat search, but they have continued the search.  

"Right now, we do have life guards that are patrolling. The boats will be in the water here in a few minutes. This morning, we had some surf so we're trying to let that die down a little bit," Shepard said.

The waters calmed enough to take the boat out Tuesday, but they didn't find anything. Shepard said they would try again Wednesday, and after that the boat search will end.

"More than likely, tomorrow afternoon, we'll officially end the dedicated search. The last thing this afternoon, before we leave today, we are going to reenter the water and do one more line search with the life guards swimming from east to west, just searching the inland trough between the beach and the sand bar, and then a little bit further out past the sand bar," Shepard said.

The search will come to an end, but the pain for a family still missing a loved one won't. 

The beach was flying yellow flags Wednesday indicating moderate surf conditions.