Lightning Kills Honeymooner on Florida Beach

Lightning took beachgoers by surprise, witness says
Posted Jun 24, 2025 3:15 AM CDT
Lightning Kills Man on Florida Honeymoon
Stock photo of New Smyrna Beach.   (Getty Images / Javier_Art_Photography)

A 29-year-old man on his honeymoon was fatally struck by lightning on a Florida beach Friday in the state's first such fatality this year. Jake A. Rosencranz of Colorado was standing in ankle-deep water on New Smyrna Beach around 12:30pm when lightning struck, USA Today reports. "It was clear blue sky, and the storm was like miles away from us," so the lightning took beachgoers by surprise, a witness tells Fox 19.

Lifeguards immediately started CPR and other life-saving measures, but Rosencranz remained unresponsive and died at a nearby hospital. On the same day around the same time, two golfers in New Smyrna Beach were indirectly struck by lightning, but did not require hospitalization, ClickOrlando reports. (More Florida stories.)

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