Kite surfers find man's body in gulf

Police say the best chance to identify him is through his tattoos - one of a dragon.

By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 29, 2002

ST. PETE BEACH -- Three young men kite surfing at the beach Tuesday discovered a body floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

They dropped their kites and boards and swam to the body, bringing it ashore from about 75 yards out in the water.

"They just took off after him," said Jackie Whitham, a bartender at Sandbar Bill's tiki bar behind the Bon-Aire Resort Motel.

"I thought they had lost their surfboard."

St. Pete Beach police Detective Matt Ingoglia described the body as a white man in his late teens or early 20s. The man was 5 feet 11 to 6 feet tall and weighed about 185 pounds. He had short, dark hair and was wearing only light-colored boxer shorts.

Investigators said the best chance of identifying the body might be the man's tattoos: He had one of a dragon on his left upper arm and another -- faded and unrecognizable -- above his right nipple.

Police know little else.

"We don't know where he came from," said St. Pete Beach police Officer Phil Riles, who said the department is unaware of any missing person fitting the description.

Some beachgoers retrieved white towels from the Bon-Aire to cover the body after the kite surfers brought the man to shore.

Although the medical examiner's office will determine more details during an autopsy, police estimated the body was in the water for at least several hours and possibly a day or two.

Tourists and locals, including some with young children, gathered on the beach for sunset about an hour after the body was found and were shocked to find police vehicles surrounding a yellow tarp.

Sharon Leonhirth, visiting St. Pete Beach from Richmond, Va., said she was startled to learn where the body was found.

"We played in this water all day long," she said.

Anyone who has information about the identity of the body should call the St. Pete Beach Police Department at 363-9200.

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