Twin 67-year-old sisters from Texas and Arizona died after being swept into the ocean by a massive wave in Mexico.
Barbara Thomas, of McKinney, and Beverly Skrimpsky, of Scottsdale, were hit by the rogue wave while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas on Sunday.
The twins were lifelong best friends who traveled the world.
"They're special people. Anybody that knew them loved them," said Steve Thomas, Barbara's husband of 45 years.
Thomas said he went looking for his wife and her sister when they didn't return from a morning walk on the beach and ended up running for his life.
"All of a sudden a five foot wave was a 10 foot wave, it was a 15 foot wave, it was a 20 foot wave all in the matter of time that it took for me to just tell you that. That's how fast it happened," Thomas said.
Thomas said he knew something was wrong when he spotted one of the women's sandals on the shore.
Security notified him when he returned to his rental house that the coast guard found the women in the water, he said.
"It's hard," Thomas said. "When you have somebody that you love that much that they've been your life your whole life."
It wasn't the first time an accident like this happened recently.
Steven Urycki, of Illinois, died after being swept into the ocean the week before.
"A guy dies five days before this and nobody says a word?" Thomas asked.
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He said he had no idea the threat of a rogue wave even existed and hoped that sharing the story prevents others from meeting the same fate.
"I've lost the love of my life just because she's out walking on the beach," he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico is warning travelers to Cabo about dangerous wave conditions with strong currents, rip tides and rogue waves.
"Not all hazardous beaches in this area are clearly marked. Swimmers, waders and even people simply walking along the beaches have been washed into the ocean by rogue waves," the warning says. "Some have drowned and others have disappeared."
