KEY LARGO, Florida — He was a Coral Springs bartender known for his love of German blackberry schnapps. That's what he was drinking the last night his former co-workers saw him before he left on a fatal snorkeling trip. Daniel Goepel, 29, was found floating off the shore of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo on Monday after he jumped into the ocean without all his snorkeling gear, authorities said. Goepel had just finished snorkeling when he took off the gear aboard the Sundance, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said. He returned to the water shortly after and was swimming with just his mask on, sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said. Two crew members aboard the Dolphin, which was anchored nearby, pulled Goepel out of the water when they saw him floating at about 2:15 p.m. Goepel was unresponsive, Herrin said, but crew members detected a pulse and gave him rescue breaths. When they couldn't detect a pulse, they started CPR. The Dolphin returned with Goepel to the park dock and paramedics transported him to Mariners Hospital in Key Largo, where he was pronounced dead, Herrin said. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, she said. "Everyone is in shock -- numb," said his older brother, Jeremy Goepel, from New York. Daniel Goepel had gone snorkeling with his cousins, who were visiting from New York, his brother said. "Danny" was the youngest of five and the life of every party, he said. "He was our baby brother," said Jeremy Goepel, who plans to bury him in their home state of New York. Daniel Goepel's former co-workers at G.W. Sharkey's Raw Bar & Grill in Coral Springs will hold a memorial service for him Saturday, with complimentary food and drinks from 8 to 10 p.m. "This was his home," said Richard Kushner, a manager at the restaurant. "He came here almost every night after work." Goepel also bartended at JD's Bar and Lounge and Carrabba's Italian Grill, Kushner said. by Alexia Campbell | 
