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Man's identity still a mystery

Little is known about the body found in Tampa Bay on Tuesday, but an autopsy was completed Wednesday.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 6, 2006

TAMPA - The identity of the dead man pulled from Tampa Bay by the captain of a sightseeing boat remained a mystery Wednesday, authorities said.

Police say the man, who appears to be white and in his 20s or 30s, had no obvious signs of injury. An autopsy was completed Wednesday afternoon, but the cause of death was still pending. Witnesses said the man's ankles were shackled, but police have not confirmed those reports.

The man does not appear to match the descriptions of any person reported missing in Tampa, said Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. Investigators were checking with Hillsborough County authorities and other regional officials, hoping to find the man's identity.

"We're trying to determine if it was a homicide," McElroy said.

A group of tourists on a wildlife excursion spotted the body during a Tuesday evening cruise. The tourists, in town for a convention on federal grants that fund mentoring programs for elementary and middle school students, chartered the Bay Spirit in hopes of seeing pelicans, spoonbills and dolphins.

Ruth Harms was one of 39 passengers on the trip.

"It was really disturbing," said Harms, an educator from Amherst, Mass.

The educators spent Tuesday afternoon listening to workshops. About 5:40 p.m., the group left the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel for the two-hour tour.

They listened as Lucinda Sewall, a Florida Aquarium employee, pointed out bird species and Capt. Jimmy Griffin steered.

"It was beautiful," Harms said. She and a group of other passengers discussed the night as they sat at a conference table in the hotel Wednesday morning.

The boat was crossing the shipping channel when someone on board spotted the corpse. A freighter was headed toward the body, so Griffin pulled the body onto the dive platform near the back of the boat, said Andrea Davis, spokeswoman for the aquarium.

He radioed the Coast Guard, and the StarShip, a nearby boat, heard the call and radioed as well.

Security guards with the aquarium also received a radio dispatch from the boat. They then contacted the Tampa Police Department, which responded "very quickly," Griffin told Davis. The captain had a working cell phone, but he thought it best to let security handle that and focus on the passengers, Davis said.

No one on the boat called 911, which delayed word of the body getting to Tampa police. The passengers stayed at the front of the boat, the body near the back, Griffin told Davis.

"There was nothing chaotic about it," Davis said.

Harms didn't look at the man's face, but said she saw his ankles were shackled. Griffin told Davis that he didn't look closely at the body.

The cruise was supposed to end at 7:45 p.m., but passengers didn't get off the boat until about 9 p.m., Harms said.

"It was definitely an experience, not one you'd want to repeat," she said.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 6, 2006, 01:58:09]