MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Fire Rescue divers discovered a man’s body near the Julia Tuttle Causeway, late Sunday night, after getting a call about a damaged Jet Ski in Biscayne Bay.
According to officials, they initially received a call just before 11 p.m., Sunday, about a personal watercraft crashing. “We heard a sailboat talking about how they found a PWC [personal water craft] with heavy damage,” said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Captain Robert Costa.
Shortly after responding to the scene, officials discovered the body of the rider near the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Biscayne Bay. “We responded to a Jet Ski accident, and upon arrival, we found a victim in the water and we recovered the victim,” explained Costa.
Miami Fire Rescue Captain Ignatius Carroll said there were also reports of another missing person. “[This] prompted the search with multiple agencies to find the second person,” he said.
However, according to the FWC, the incident only involved one victim.
Rescue crews searched the waters for just over an hour to recover the body. “Miami-Dade Fire, along with [Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission] are working on trying to identify that person [who was found] and make the notification to next of kin,” said Carroll.
The family of the victim arrived on the scene shortly after to identify the body. Officials said the victim was in his 30s, but they have not released his identity.
It is still unclear if the victim was an experienced rider. “Not sure exactly why this person was riding out here this late at night,” said Carroll. “There’s no tell how long that person may have been missing. I’m not sure if this person was an experienced rider. But all of these questions will be answered once the investigation is conducted.”
Authorities temporarily shut down one eastbound lane on the causeway, causing traffic backups.
FWC is the lead agency in the investigation and said they plan to release more information, this week.
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