Digest

Search for missing pilot is ended

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2007

PORT RITCHIE

No one could say for sure Monday what happened to a Pasco County man whose single-engine plane disappeared from radar en route home from the Bahamas. But his sister, Emily Cleer of Port Richey, was convinced Harris Sullivan, 68, had crashed into the Atlantic.

"He died doing what he loved," she said. "Which is the way anybody should live their life."

The Coast Guard searched for two days and nights. On Saturday night, they spotted a life raft about 15 miles southwest of Sullivan's last-known position. The crew examined the raft Sunday and found Sullivan's name handwritten in black marker. They concluded that the raft must have come from Sullivan's plane.

It was 7:52 a.m. Monday when they suspended the search.

TAMPA BAY

Democrat to campaign in Florida

He may be a longshot for the Democratic presidential nomination, but Mike Gravel is also the only Democratic candidate not boycotting Florida's Jan. 29 presidential primary. He'll be in Tampa Bay courting voters Wednesday. The former Alaska senator will be at the St. Petersburg College Clearwater campus' teaching auditorium, 2465 Drew St. around 1:40; at a Gravel fundraiser at the Sam Seltzer Steakhouse in Clearwater, 18409 U.S. 19 N, at about 2:45; and at the University of South Florida's Marshall Center ballroom about 4:30.

DUNNELLON MAN DIES IN IRAQ: Spc. Jason B. Koutroubas, 21, of Dunnellon died Sunday in Tal Afar, Iraq, from injuries suffered in a non-combat-related incident, the Defense Department announced Monday. Koutroubas was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 23:08:21]