Bodies of Holiday fishermen found

Investigators believe one man fell out of the boat and the other tried to rescue him.

By ELENA LESLEY and CASEY CORA Times Staff Writers
Published October 2, 2007

PALM HARBOR - When avid fisherman Dale Puricelli fell from his bass boat Sunday morning, his friend Daniel Propes jumped into Lake Tarpon after him, authorities believe.

The rescue ended tragically.

Monday morning, searchers found Puricelli's body 13 feet below the surface of the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal. He was entangled in fishing line connected to his rod and reel.

Later in the afternoon, they located Propes' body about 400 feet from where the two Holiday men disappeared. It was obscured by heavy vegetation and murky water.

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Investigators said they did not know why Puricelli, 49, might have fallen out of the 15-foot boat. Those who knew the Holiday men say both were comfortable on the water.

"Dale couldn't swim, but it didn't stop him from fishing," said Carol Birdyshaw of Spring Hill, Puricelli's ex-wife

Puricelli did a lot of whitewater rafting, she said.

"He was always the adventurous type," she said.

When he wasn't on the water, Puricelli enjoyed carpentry and was "a craftsman of all sorts," said his employer, Michael DeBinder, vice president of operations for Tampa Bay Machining.

Puricelli worked as a manual machinist at the company for 20 years, DeBinder said.

"He will be sadly missed and hard to replace," he said.

Puricelli was a master tool-maker and was very focused on his work, said Birdyshaw, who was married to him from 1981 to 1992.

That focus is part of what led to their divorce, she said. Together the two had a daughter who died of juvenile diabetes.

Puricelli, who was originally from Massachusetts, was "very quiet and kept to himself."

"My heart goes out to his wife," Birdyshaw said of her ex-husband. "I hope she can get on with her life."

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Propes, 46, was "a great fisherman" and "an unbelievably strong swimmer," said Jeff Starks, who shared a house on Springfield Drive with Propes.

Propes shared Puricelli's passion for carpentry, Starks said. He said his friend grew up in the woods of Michigan and moved to Florida about 10 years ago. He had two children, Starks said.

Propes and Puricelli met around three weeks ago and Puricelli had said he fished every Sunday, Starks said.

Receipts from the Anderson Park boat launch confirm that the two set out in Puricelli's boat around 7 a.m. Sunday.

Around 11:30 a.m., other boaters spotted a bass boat adrift in the canal at the southern end of the 2,500-acre lake.

It was empty except for a cell phone, a pair of shoes, some money and fishing tackle. One pole still had a line in the water.

Marine deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials began a search that lasted until dusk.

Authorities resumed at daybreak Monday. Following a grid pattern, they used sonar to probe the cloudy water.

"Visibility is zero," sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said. "The divers can't see anything at all once they drop down below the surface. They have to feel their way."

The sonar located Puricelli's body about 100 yards from where the boat was found. By 9:30 a.m., divers had pulled his body from the canal.

Bordner said authorities don't suspect foul play and found no evidence of alcohol on the boat. He said neither man was wearing a life jacket.

Times staff writer Thomas Lake and researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4167.

[Last modified October 2, 2007, 06:38:29]