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Body washes ashore south of Gandy
By Times Staff Writer
Published January 11, 2006
TAMPA - A man's decomposed body washed ashore Tuesday morning behind a concrete manufacturing business south of Gandy Boulevard, and police say the evidence points to murder.
Investigators did not release details about how the man died, but Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said detectives are calling it "an obvious homicide."
The body had been in the water for several days and was so decomposed that police could not tell man's the age. But he was a white male with dark-colored hair, McElroy said. He was wearing black carpenter pants and a red, long-sleeved plaid shirt.
Police sent the body to the medical examiner for further examination, and detectives and dive team members spent Tuesday morning wading through murky ankle-deep water in search of evidence.
Employees of Standard Concrete Products, 5801 W Commerce St. near Picnic Island Park, discovered the body shortly after arriving at work.
But another employee told investigators that he saw something floating in the water at lunchtime Monday. He got off work after dark that night and waded through the water to get closer to the floating object, McElroy said.
He told police he saw hair floating above the water and thought it was a dead dog, so he left it there and went back to shore.
By the time workers returned Tuesday, the body had come ashore, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (813) 276-3200.
[Last modified January 11, 2006, 00:40:10]
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