A 34-year-old father of four drowned in Palm Bay, Florida, after his truck became submerged in rapidly rising floodwaters during a historic storm.
Joshua Bennett was on his way to get coffee when he encountered impassable, river-like floodwaters. His wife, Stacy Bennett, told WESH2 that he called her on FaceTime, visibly distressed.
"He was just crying like, 'I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do,'" she recounted. He described being in the middle of a river with water surrounding his vehicle. Stacy Bennett urged him to escape, but the call abruptly ended.
She contacted 911 and spent hours attempting to get help for her husband, but he was later found dead by Palm Bay police, trapped in his car. Bennett was one of at least two individuals who died in the storm, which dumped as much as 20 inches of rain in some areas within 12 hours, leading to numerous rescues across the state.
Stacy Bennett described her husband as an "amazing husband and dad" who was devoted to their children. The couple met in college while studying pre-med. She stated that his death has left her without her support system and their children without their father, forcing them to "start from scratch."