His brother and other rescuers find him too late. His girlfriend escapes with minor injuries.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published June 20, 2003
CLEARWATER - John Morales hoped his brother, Eddie, was walking home.
The car Eddie Morales had been riding in was upside down in a drainage ditch. Heavy rain had filled the ditch with enough water to submerge most of the car. Friends had dived in, searching for Eddie, but didn't find him.
His brother hoped that was a good sign. John Morales decided to go underwater one more time. He swam down and reached into the car. He felt his brother's leg.
John Morales and others pulled his brother from the car. They tried CPR. Someone called 911. But Eddie Morales never came to. He was pronounced dead at Morton Plant Hospital minutes later.
The crash occurred in the early morning hours Thursday in the 700 block of N Old Coachman Road. John Morales said his brother and a woman he had been seeing, whom police identified as Erica Lynn Hendron, 27, of Palm Harbor, had been out that night.
Clearwater police haven't determined whether alcohol was a factor, although that is part of an investigation, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.
Police also don't know yet who was driving . The two-door 2000 Acura is registered to Hendron's address.
John Morales said the couple had been arguing after their night out. They left the condo that the brothers shared in the 2400 block of Sharkey Road. John Morales, who works as a bartender, had his girlfriend and other friends over.
Not long after the arguing couple left, John Morales said he heard a frantic series of rings on his doorbell. It was Hendron.
She was soaking wet. She had a cut on her arm. She said there had been an accident.
"She was hysterical," John Morales said. "We all tried to calm her down."
He said Hendron didn't know where the accident had occurred. He got into his car and his friends climbed into another. They went in search of the accident scene.
After a few minutes, John Morales' cell phone rang. It was his friends. They had found the car. It was upside down in a ditch about 50 yards from the condo. The water was 4 to 5 feet deep.
"He's my only brother," John Morales said Thursday afternoon.
Police said neither Eddie Morales nor Hendron was wearing seat belts. Preliminary autopsy results show Morales may have drowned, Shelor said.
Shelor said investigators haven't determined what made the Acura go off the road. It struck a guardrail before flipping into the water.
Hendron was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, treated for minor injuries and released. Her stepfather said Hendron was sedated and sleeping Thursday afternoon and unavailable for an interview.
John Morales said his brother had been in the Marine Corps for five years. He moved to Clearwater about 10 months ago. The brothers are originally from Albuquerque, N.M. John Morales was flying there Thursday evening to be with his mother.
He said Eddie Morales, 24, has a 4-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son who live with their mother in Texas. Eddie Morales was separated from his wife.
John Morales, 26, said his brother worked at Cody's Original Roadhouse in Countryside. Despite being in Clearwater only a short time, he had made many friends, his brother said.
