Missing Swimmer Update
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has identified the body recovered from the Caloosahatchee River, near the I-75 Bridge, on May 5 as that of 54-year-old Gary Potts of Punta Gorda. The body has been turned over to the District 21 Medical Examiner’s Office.
***UPDATE #1*** 5/3/10 – 5:06 P.M.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team have worked to the point of exhaustion in attempts to locate 54 year old Gary Potts of Punta Gorda, Florida today. The team assembled this morning and with the assistance of the Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit concluded their efforts at locating the missing man moments ago. Divers completed a grid search on the floor of the Caloosahatchee River in all directions from the general vicinity of where the he was last seen yesterday afternoon, adjacent to Bay Pointe Yacht and Racquet Club. The Sheriff’s Office extends its appreciation to the FWC and Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit for their assistance during the attempted recovery effort today, as well.
***ORIGINAL RELEASE*** 5/2/10 – 10:33 P.M.
On Sunday, May 2, 2010, at 4:33 p.m. the Lee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible drowning. Deputies responded to a dock located at 16050 Bay Pointe Boulevard, North Fort Myers and discovered a male had gone under water and had not returned to the surface.
Deputies were advised that two men were boating when one of the men decided to jump into the water to cool off. The man began to have difficulty swimming in the water. The other man jumped in to help him, but their boat began to float away. The second man swam back and retrieved the boat. He then returned and jumped into the water again to assist the struggling swimmer. The boat floated away again and the second man once again swam back and retrieved the boat. When he returned this time, the swimmer was no longer above water. The second man drove the boat approximately 75 yards to shore and was able to get a bystander to call for help. The two men who were on the boat are brothers.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene and an extensive search and rescue operation was quickly underway. The rescue operation turned into a recovery operation when the swimmer could not be located. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office dive team searched the waters throughout the evening. After nightfall, water conditions and lack of visibility caused the search to be discontinued for the evening. It is tentatively scheduled to resume at 9 A.M. on Monday, May 3rd.
The names of the men involved are not being released at this time.