MIAMI (WSVN) - As South Florida mourns the death of 24-year-old Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, new details surfaced overnight, including text messages marking his final moments and a bag of baseballs that washed ashore, which may help investigators piece together the tragic story.
According to Ocean Rescue Division Chief Vincent Canosa, at around 1 p.m., Sunday afternoon, a black bag was found about 20 blocks north of the crash site that took the lives of Fernandez and his two friends, 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero and 26-year-old Emilio Macias, early Sunday morning.
The bag contained Fernandez’s checkbook and four autographed baseballs with his signature and numbers, which may indicate that he had written the date on the baseballs, as well.
As the investigation continued, new details surfaced of what exactly went on hours before Fernandez’s boat crashed into a jetty off Miami Beach at a high rate of speed.
On Monday, a spokesperson of American Social Bar & Restaurant, a bar accessible by boat along the Miami River, confirmed that Fernandez had been a guest at the bar 90 minutes before the fatal accident. However, they would not reveal an exact timeline.
Monday afternoon, Will Bernal, a good friend of Fernandez and the two other victims on the boat at the time of the crash, released the final conversation he had with Rivero over iMessage, just moments before the fatal accident.
“I really tried everything I could do to have Eddy convince Jose to get off the boat, as well,” Bernal told 7News. “Just to blow off steam and go somewhere on land.”
But it was too late — they kept on driving, heading towards Miami Beach.
The final conversation conducted between Bernal and Rivero went like this:
Bernal: “Yo please be careful bro”
Rivero: “I will bro”
Bernal: “Try to keep him [Fernandez] close to shore if you go out”
Rivero: “Trust me it’s not my time yet”
Bernal: “I know but try to keep Jose cool, tell him what I said”
Rivero: “I know”
Bernal: “Turn on your find iPhone app”
Rivero: “It’s on”
Bernal: “Dale keep me in the loop. If you need me to meet up with u guys to cool down for support let me know”
According to the Miami-Dade County medical examiner, the autopsies on Fernandez and his two friends were completed, Monday afternoon. However, officials will not release any official statement until the toxicology reports are concluded.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.