NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 28, 2009
Contact: Michele Nicholson
Public Information Officer
(850) 651-7420
DROWNING DETERMINED AS CAUSE OF DEATH
The Okaloosa/Walton Medical Examiner's Office
says a man whose body was discovered on an Okaloosa Island beach Wednesday
morning died as a result of drowning.
Investigators
with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office report there are no indications of
foul play, however the victim's identity is still unknown.
The nude body of
a slightly built white male washed ashore on the beach near the Best Western
Motel and was first noticed by a man looking off a balcony.
The victim has brown hair with
a small balding patch on the back of his head. He wore a silver necklace,
bracelet, and pinky ring. He is about 6-feet tall and weighs around 190 pounds.
Investigators believe the drowning is connected to a report on Saturday around
noon of a man seen entering the Gulf of Mexico on Okaloosa Island carrying his
hat, shoes, a baseball cap, and jeans. An intensive search of the area was
conducted at that time by the U-S Coast Guard, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office,
and Okaloosa Island Fire Department, but no one was seen.
Anyone with
information is asked to call the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at
850-651-7400 or Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.