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Man drowns in Pithlachascotee river

The man in the river didn't seem in distress, at first. It looked like he was juut going for a swim.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published October 1, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - The man in the river didn't seem in distress, at first. It looked like he was just going for a swim.

Maybe he lived in one of the houses along the water, Susan Allen thought. The 55-year-old was strolling with her husband under the light of sidewalk lamps in Sims Park. It was shortly before midnight Friday. They'd had some drinks in a bar downtown.

Allen's husband thought it was odd, a man in the water at that hour. So he called 911 on his cell phone. A police dispatcher said an officer would come out. They hung up.

Then the man in the water started splashing and waving. He went under and came up yelling, "Help me! Help me!"

Allen called back to him in encouragement. "You can make it!"

But he couldn't. He disappeared under the dark water.

New Port Richey police and Pasco County sheriff's deputies spent much of the early morning hours Saturday searching but found nothing.

About 8:40 a.m., police received a call from a pregnant wife. Her husband, Jason Carr, had gone out the night before but didn't come back. Carr's roommate told police he was with Carr the night before at the Downtown Lounge, a few blocks from Sims Park. The roommate said he left about 11:15 p.m. Carr remained, he said, and was pretty drunk.

Police learned Carr, 30, of Nebraska Avenue caused a disturbance at the bar and left sometime before midnight.

His description matched that of the man whom Allen said she saw drown.

Police didn't tell Carr's wife right away about the apparent drowning, police Capt. Darryl Garman said. The circumstances certainly lined up. But they weren't ready to assume.

Instead, they sent a victim's advocate over to be with her while police divers searched the Pithlachascotee River's bottom.

The divers searched for hours with no success. Allen came back to the river to watch them, wanting closure on what she had witnessed the night before.

"To see somebody die right there yelling for you," Allen said. Her words trailed off.

Then, shortly after noon, a diver came upon the body of a man in leather work boots, jeans and a white tank top.

Police and New Port Richey Fire Rescue workers hoisted the man onto a dock, quickly covering him with a tarp as picnicgoers strained to see.

They pulled a wallet out of the man's pocket and looked at his ID.

It was Carr.

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 19:43:34]