Dead surfer's ex-wife makes appeal

Kandy Moore wants someone to know: The surfer who drowned on St. Pete Beach last month was her children's father, and she is hoping someone can return the personal effects he left on the beach.

Moore said she was married for 10 years to Gerald W. Perdue, 54, who died on Dec. 19 while surfing off St. Pete Beach. Missing are his wallet, keys and watch -- a clunky, silvery sports watch that Moore wants their 13-year-old son, Nicholas, to have. She can't remember the brand.

Perdue typically wrapped his items in his beach towel when he surfed, she said. She assumes someone picked them up during or after the rescue attempt, perhaps planning to turn them in later.

She said she doesn't need an explanation. She just wants his stuff back.

"If they knew what significance those items were now, to my 11-year-old daughter and my 13-year-old son, maybe they would bring it back," Moore said this week.

Moore said she has talked with St. Pete Beach detectives and one of the witnesses who pulled Perdue from the water and tried to revive him, but none knows where the items are.

Although he was carrying no identification, police identified him through the rented surfboard he was using. Detective Phil Riles, who investigated the case, said folks on St. Pete Beach generally return items found in the sand, and Perdue's belongings may have been washed into the surf.

Moore lives in Sarasota and has since remarried, but said she and Perdue remained close. Along with son Nicholas they had a daughter, Malibu.

Anyone with any information is asked to call her at (941) 358-1982.

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