Jake Rosencranz and his wife, Leah, had finally carved out time for a long-delayed honeymoon in Florida—a sun-soaked breather after years of building a life together. They landed in New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona, ready for nothing more complicated than sandy toes and slow mornings.
By early afternoon on June 20, what looked like an easy, blue-skied day had quietly changed. Jake, 29, was standing in ankle-deep water near 27th Avenue Beach when a storm, still miles inland, began edging toward the coast. Around 12:30 p.m., FOX 35’s Storm Tracker Radar recorded roughly 170 lightning strikes in the broader area. One of them found Jake.
Lifeguards sprinted across the sand and began CPR, working alongside first responders to stabilize him. Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue Director Tammy Malphurs later explained that conditions hadn’t warranted clearing the beach yet; the squall line remained to the west when the strike occurred. “CPR was immediately initiated, and we performed life-saving measures,” she said. Jake was rushed to AdventHealth in New Smyrna Beach. Despite every effort, he died the next day, June 21—Florida’s first lightning-related fatality of 2025.
The loss rippled quickly through two communities: the surf town where the accident happened and the mountain life Jake and Leah cherished back home. Friends called him a “true Coloradan,” even though he grew up in Weston, Massachusetts. He’d attended Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where, in a sophomore chemistry class, he met the girl who would become his wife. From then on, it was the two of them—and eventually their dog, Bonnie—adventuring through the Rockies from their home base in Frisco. Weekends meant hiking, skiing, biking, golfing, boating, and chasing every last drop of sunshine. In July 2023, they married at Arapahoe Basin, a place layered with memories and laughter among friends at the “beach” there.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood shared the heartbreak publicly. “So sorry for the tragic loss of a young man here on a delayed honeymoon with his wife,” he wrote. “At 29 years old, he should have had many more anniversaries with her for years to come.” He thanked the lifeguards, EMS, and ER staff who fought to bring Jake back, and extended condolences to Leah, who stayed by Jake’s side in the hospital.
As tributes poured in, Leah’s brother, David Curtis, started a GoFundMe to help her face medical bills and navigate a future none of them imagined. “He was an incredible husband to my sister Leah and family member to all,” Curtis shared in a LinkedIn tribute. The fundraiser notes what everyone who knew them already understood: “This devastating loss impacts so many loved ones, but especially Leah who will be navigating life without her husband and best friend.”
Lightning deaths are statistically rare—the CDC estimates the odds of being struck in any given year are less than one in a million—but their consequences are often sudden and catastrophic. On the same day Jake was struck, two golfers at the Venetian Bay Golf Course were reportedly injured by an indirect strike, according to local fire officials. Their conditions were not immediately known.
What remains most vivid, though, are the pieces of Jake’s life that tell you exactly who he was: the mountain mornings and powder days, the easy grin, the dog at his heels, the high-country sunsets, and the love story that began at a lab bench and grew into a marriage full of momentum and joy. A honeymoon that was supposed to be a celebration of that story ended in a way no one could have anticipated, leaving a wide circle of family and friends holding tight to one another—and to the memory of a life lived big, generous, and bright.
