PINELLAS PARK - An 84-year-old man suffering from dementia wandered away from his son's apartment early Monday and was later found dead in a retention ditch.
Pinellas Park police officers found Luther C. Wilson shortly before 7 a.m.
"We don't know if he couldn't get back or couldn't remember or what," said his son, Darrell Wilson, 58, who called police after noticing his father was missing. He was last seen about 3 a.m. by Wilson's wife.
Wilson said he had gone to South Carolina last week to get his father, so he could find him better care at an assisted living facility in Largo. For a short time, his father was to stay at his Gateway Villas apartment at 2901 Gandy Blvd.
The ditch, on the east side of the property, was 10 feet deep and had 2 feet of water, police said.
Luther Wilson was a retired engineer for Owens Corning in Anderson, S.C., his son said. He served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War.
His wife, Juanita, was to join him in a few weeks.
"It's horrible," his son said. "This was just a freak accident."
Woman, man die in two St. Petersburg accidents
ST. PETERSBURG - Two people died in separate accidents in St. Petersburg on Friday, police said.
The first happened at 7:40 p.m. as an unidentified woman crossed 34th Street N just south of Dartmouth Avenue.
A 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Edward Raymond Peters, 45, hit the woman after another vehicle blocked Peters' view of the pedestrian, police said.
The woman was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and later pronounced dead. Police had not identified her on Monday.
The second accident happened at 9:22 p.m. in the 3800 block of 34th Street S.
A 2005 Pontiac driven by William C. Lamon, 78, of New Jersey, ran into the back of a county transit bus stopped in the curb lane for a passenger, police said. There were no signs of braking before impact, police said.
"It is unknown at this time if he suffered a seizure or had a medical episode of some sort before impact," a news release said.
Lamon was driving a rental car, police said, and was heading to a friend's home from Tampa International Airport. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and pronounced dead.
