TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa police on Monday identified a body found over the weekend as that of a man who was reported missing by his fiancée after the pair went out on a rented boat on Friday.
Investigators say Mario Lucero Saenz, 34, of Tampa was in a rental boat with his fiancée, Erika Intriago, when the boat hit a sandbar Friday at 3 p.m.
Saenz jumped off the boat to push it off the sandbar, but went underwater. The boat drifted as he attempted to remain afloat, resurfacing twice.
Intriago tossed a life vest to him. However, he did not resurface a third time and Intriago called 911. Dive teams from several agencies responded to search for Saenz on Friday.
Dive teams and representatives from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tampa Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and Tampa Fire Rescue resumed the search on Saturday morning.At 9:52 a.m. a body was recovered near where Saenz went missing.
Authorities delayed the release of Mario Lucero Saenz’s name until the identity of the body was confirmed and next of kin was notified.
