MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - The swimmer who rescued a young girl caught in a rip current has been identified Saturday night, according to WRAL News.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, a young girl was caught in a rip current near 4th Avenue South, according to the Chief Deputy Coroner.

Another swimmer, later identified as 47-year-old Derrick Moore, entered the water to help her, but was pulled by the rip current and was located the next morning near 11th Avenue South, according to Myrtle Beach police and the Coroner’s office.

Moore’s family said he was a teacher from Georgia, and he did not know the girl before jumping into the water to save her, according to WRAL News.

“We loved him and are truly heartbroken that he’s gone,” his daughter said in a statement to WRAL. “He was a great father, and we are all going to miss him.”

Moore was a P.E. and health teacher at the elementary school he taught at according to his coworker Sherry Weeks, whose classroom was across from Moore’s. She also said Moore was a football coach.

“He was just an amazing, amazing man,” Weeks said. “I just cannot-- I’m trying to get myself together to go to work because he was the first person you saw.”

Weeks said Moore was the kind of person to help everyone.

“This has broken my heart,” Weeks said. “That’s who he was. He was our hero.”

She added going back to school after this weekend will be hard as the school grieves his loss.

“It’s gonna be very difficult,” Weeks said. “It’s going to be difficult for all of us, all of us at the school because he was highly liked and loved.”

The incident took place after lifeguards had gone off duty. The condition and whereabouts of the young girl are still unknown at this time.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department and Myrtle Beach Fire Department continued searching for Moore until his body was found.

The U.S. Coast Guard was also called in to assist.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story stated the young girl had been taken to a hospital, based on information provided by Myrtle Beach police. Authorities later clarified that the individual at the hospital was not the young girl involved in this incident. This story has been updated to reflect the most current information.

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